Modesto honors three residents who helped officer as he fought suspect grabbing his gun
The three Modesto residents who came to the aid of a police officer last month as he wrestled on the ground with a suspect trying to take his gun were honored at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Interim Police Chief Brandon Gillespie awarded Ross Blair, Yajaira Tapia and Robert Perez certificates of appreciation for helping Officer Brandon Soria on May 25 in the parking lot of Star Food & Liquor at 1525 Yosemite Blvd.
“... I know both myself and the council wanted to bring you here tonight to formally recognize you and extend our gratitude and appreciation for the action you took keeping our officer and our community safe,” Gillespie said, according to his prepared remarks.
The good Samaritans posed for pictures with Mayor Sue Zwahlen and other City Council members.
In an interview before the ceremony, the three downplayed any suggestion of being heroes.
“It was just a team effort,” said Blair, 41, who was driving back to work when he heard Soria call for help and stopped. “It’s not that big of a deal, actually. I don’t feel it’s anything that anybody else wouldn’t have done in the neighborhood. We’ve got a good community here.”
Tapia, 32, is a manager for a company that provides free government phones and was checking on one of her agents working in a booth set up near Star Food & Liquor when she saw the trouble.
“Before he yelled help, I was rushing to him because I seen that the gentlemen had the gun, already had his hands on the gun,” she said. “I was actually blessed because I don’t think I would have been able to done nothing by myself, to have these gentlemen there as well. Because it was a whole team effort. And I’m a strong believer that it just takes a whole village to raise one good child.”
Had stopped for gum when he saw struggle
Perez, 44, is a counselor who works with foster children and had stopped at the convenience store to buy gum. He said while he was driving away he saw Soria struggling with the suspect.
“I asked the officer if he needed help and he said, ‘Yes,’” Perez said. “That’s when I got out and ran and tried to grab the guy’s arm to make sure he didn’t get a hold of the weapon. That was my main concern.”
The three were strangers until coming together on that midafternoon Tuesday in May.
Gillespie told council members Soria had been dispatched to the Dollar General store next to Star Food & Liquor after a woman called 911 to report that a man had tried to get into her car as she was leaving. Soria spotted the man nearby, leaning inside the window of another car.
Soria tried to detain the man, but the man pulled away and the two struggled. As they wrestled on the ground, the man tried to remove Soria’s taser, according to Gillespie’s remarks. The man then tried to take Soria’s gun.
‘Three citizens heard his call’
“The suspect was able to overcome the firearm retention devices and remove Officer Soria’s firearm halfway out of his holster before (Soria) was able to gain control of the firearm and keep the suspect from removing it all the way out,” according to the remarks.
“As Officer Soria struggled for his gun and waited for backup to arrive, he called for help and three citizens ... heard his call and jumped into action,” according to the remarks.
Police have identified the suspect as 31-year-old Waterford resident Daniel Steffens. He is charged with four felonies: attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon that is not a firearm upon a peace officer, obstruction and resisting, and trying to remove a firearm from a peace officer, according to the Stanislaus County Superior Court website.
He is in custody on $1 million bail, and his next court appearance is Aug. 17, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department website.
Soria was not at Tuesday’s council meeting and did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
