On July 29, Sheriff Brian Roberts, along with Captain Joey Lopresti and Lt. Delmar Jarrell awarded Janie Smith with an Award of Recognition and a monetary gift card, donated by employees of the Sheriff’s Office, for her efforts that helped protect a young child from harm.
The incident that was recognized occurred on May 28, when Smith, a citizen of Brunswick County, observed a young child frantically running in the middle of the roadway on Windsor Avenue. Smith immediately identified that the child was in danger and without hesitation began running after the child in the attempt to protect her from harm. The child was not responding to her or anyone else and was making no attempts to stop running in the roadway. After a long run, Smith caught up with the child and moved her to safety just as Deputy Chad A. Clary was arriving in the area to assist. It was quickly discovered that the child was non-verbal and autistic so communication was extremely limited and difficult. It was determined that the child had quickly eloped from her residence and immediately fled into the roadway and within a matter of a few seconds had created a large distance between her and her parents. Without the quick assistance from Ms. Smith, this situation could have had a much different outcome…