Life Saving Incident

On Jan. 10, 2020 at 9:45 p.m., Sergeant Jeffrey Cardinal was dispatched on a call referencing a suicidal person in Orion Township. According to the sheriff’s office, that person had posted a video to social media saying goodbye to family members and had threatened suicide. When Sergeant Cardinal arrived on-scene, he spotted a car filled with thick smoke and a man inside who was making no attempt to exit the vehicle. Sergeant Cardinal broke the driver’s side window of the burning vehicle and safely removed the man. Once the man was out of immediate danger, Sergeant Cardinal extinguished the flames before they engulfed the entire vehicle. He then rendered aid to the man until EMS and a crew from the fire department arrived, the sheriff’s office said. For his efforts Sergeant Cardinal was honored with Michigan Sheriff’s Association 2020 Lifesaving Award On October 29, 2020, MSA Executive Director Matthew Saxton stated, “Sergeant Cardinal is the perfect example of someone who deserves this award. He put his safety on the line to save the life of someone else and his quick thinking helped to resolve this stressful incident in a safe manner.”