HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Huron Township, Michigan's newest police officers are receiving commendations for their teamwork and commitment to public safety after they saved the life of a woman who had been injured and trapped in her garage for about two days.
It began around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Huron River Drive and Pennsylvania Road.
Officer Ahmed Kassem, who has only been with the department for three months, was working the midnight shift when he came upon a snow blower that had been left running in the middle of Dianne Lane.
Kassem stopped to investigate and a contractor, hired to clear snow for nearby residents, told him that he'd just left it running because there was a dog running loose in the area.
Kassem located the dog, and instead of just taking the young Akita to animal control, the officer began knocking on doors to see if he could find her owner.
One neighbor directed Kassem to the home of a woman where they said the dog lived.
"The dog was next to me the whole entire time," said Kassem. "It was as if the dog knew something was wrong."
Kassem could see lights were on inside and a woman's purse was on a table.
"I know no woman leaves the house without her purse," said Officer Kassem. "It didn't seem right."
Kassem called his partner Troy Rickelmann to the location.
"Something wasn't adding up," said Rickelmann. And both officers knew they had to find a way to get inside.
They contacted their supervisor and dispatch was able to track down a relative who lives nearby.
The relative was able to give police a code to gain entry to the garage.
As soon as the garage door lifted, they could see a woman on the ground and in need of immediate medical care.
The woman had suffered a medical emergency and had fallen. And it's believed she'd been on the floor for about two days.
"I heard the gasp of a breath and we were thankful she was alive," said Rickelmann who has only been on the job for 11 months.
"It was unbelievable we were there at that time because who knows what would have happened," said Kassem.
Relatives of the woman say they are so thankful for how the officers were quick to take action when they could see something wasn't right.
We're told she is continuing to recover in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
"In all of my years of police work, I've never been prouder of two young men," said Huron Township Police Chief Everette Robbins. "The best thing you can give your residents is that they can go to bed at night and know they are safe and that people are watching over them."