JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office sergeant was honored Thursday as “Supervisor of the Month” for the role he played in saving another officer’s life earlier this year.
The officer he saved, who thought she was just at the ceremony to thank him, was surprised by Sheriff T.K. Waters with a recognition of her own: a Purple Heart.
“Very humbled, very honored, and very thankful and grateful,” Officer Jennifer Johnson said after being surprised by both the award and the appearance of her family at the ceremony.
Rudlaff and Johnson did not know each other before Feb. 23, when they met under harrowing circumstances.
Johnson was attacked while responding to a shoplifting call at the Walmart Supercenter on Philips Highway.
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According to the arrest report, Joseph Merill punched Johnson and then beat her, knocking her unconscious.
Rudlaff, who was off-duty, happened to be driving down the same street after dropping his son off at school that morning and said he saw what was happening. He acted right away, turning on his lights and sirens and then getting out to chase Merill after he stopped attacking Johnson.
“You do not have time to really sit back and think,” said Rudlaff, who ended up chasing down Merill and helped get him into custody. “I just saw an officer and it could have been anyone, but I saw the officer being attacked. I am yelling out for him to stop. I am yelling, ‘Police!’ I am absolutely just asking God to give me the strength and courage to be able to stay up with him and catch him.”
Merill is charged with several felonies, including aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
During Thursday’s ceremony, the sheriff commended Rudlaff’s quick actions, calling them heroic.
“Thank you for being a role model in the agency and to some, a guardian angel,” Waters said.
Johnson, who is still recovering but is improving, believes she is alive today because of Rudlaff, who she now speaks to weekly.
“I quickly learned later on that he was my angel and he saw the whole incident take place,” Johnson said. “I remember him coming over and just giving me a big bear hug and just telling me that I am so glad that you are OK.”
But Rudlaff balks at being seen as angelic or heroic, saying he was just following the instincts and training he has as a law enforcement officer.
“I think God put me here at the right time and police,” Rudlaff said. “As far as being an angel, I feel like I was being a police officer. I saw an incident take place and I reacted.”
Johnson recently got a large tattoo on her arm of a lion with a warrior holding a cross and the verse Joshua 1:9 incorporated into the design, which also features a thin blue line on a banner hanging from the cross.
“Jesus was always with me -- the Warrior -- and my blue family. I have a thin blue line here on the tattoo, and it just represents everybody that is with me,” Johnson explained.’
Johnson said she is just waiting on clearance from medical staff before she returns to the job she loves -- with a new friend on the force.
“It is a special bond I will always share with him, truly, for the rest of my life,” she said. “I am forever grateful and honored to be his friend.”