Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008

Crew awarded for heroics

An international helicopter association will honor a Stanislaus County sheriff's flight crew for intervening when a father was found beating his young son to death in June in the middle of a dark country road 15 miles south of Modesto. On June 14, sheriff's deputy Rob Latapie was the pilot and Modesto police officer Jerry Ramar was the tactical flight officer aboard Air 101, a sheriff's helicopter. They responded to a report of a man beating his infant son on West Bradbury Road. Latapie turned a spotlight on the scene and saw Sergio Casian Aguiar, 27, of Turlock, kicking his 25-month-old son, Axel, so the pilot landed in a nearby cow pasture. Ramar jumped from the helicopter and ran about 20 yards, his gun drawn, before reaching a set of barbed-wire and electric fences. He commanded the father to stop, but the man raised his middle finger and kicked the baby again. Ramar fired a single shot, killing the father instantly, authorities said. The boy was pronounced dead at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock. Latapie and Ramar will receive the 2009 MD Helicopters Law Enforcement Award at the HELI-EXPO banquet Feb. 23 in Anaheim, according to a sheriff's news release.