Police officer recognized

Officer Brent Payne lauded for helping to save a woman’s life

A Lorain police officer was nominated for the department’s Life Saving Award handed out at the end of the year for helping to save a woman’s life.

“The incident (10 p.m., May 5) happened when an officer was dealing with a traffic stop,” said Officer Brent Payne, who will be up for the award at the department’s annual Awards and

Recognition Dinner and Ceremony. “The suspect in the crash apparently fled the scene and was heading down 20th Street.

“The suspect drove to 20th Street and Long Avenue where it struck a female that was out of her car that she had parked legally.”

Payne said the car hit the woman and kept going.

“The way the car hit the woman and moved forward, her leg was completely severed,” he said. “I arrived a little later in the incident, and an officer had already stopped the suspect, so I drove toward where the woman had gone down.”

Payne said Demond Nicholson, someone who was nearby, had rushed to the woman’s aid.

“He instantly went into action and used his belt as a tourniquet,” Payne said. “I then got there and applied two of the tourniquets that I have.”

Payne said Nicholson is the one who deserves credit for saving the woman’s life.

“(Nicholson) did what any good human would do in that situation,” the officer said. “He didn’t stand there and pull out his phone, like so many do nowadays.

“He rushed into action and made sure to apply the tourniquet and kept the woman calm and alert. He also did a great job of keeping everyone else away from the scene so we could do what we needed to do.

“He’s a tattoo artist, so he had some first aid training. I actually recommended him for the Red Cross Life Saving Award. I’m just waiting to hear back.”

Payne said the whole thing was a team effort.

“We had all officers at the scene doing a specific role,” he said. “It’s the way we are trained based on how we arrive at the scene, and it just happened that I arrived when I did.

“If things had changed slightly, another officer would have done the same. I was just the one who was there at the right time. The woman lost the leg, but she was thankfully able to recover.”

The driver, Ja’Quon Moon, 22, of Lorain, was charged with aggravated vehicular assault, operating vehicle intoxicated, implied consent to test, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless operation, no driver’s license and obstructing official business.

Moon is in the Lorain County Jail on a $325,000 bond pending a court appearance.