It’s been said that police officers are never off duty and every day, police officers all over the country intervene and take action to stop crimes in progress. Officer Guillermo “Memo” Arrubla, currently assigned to the 43F Squad in the South Mountain Precinct, was on vacation in Hawaii when he took a different type of action, which ultimately saved a young woman’s life.
On Saturday, June 22, 2013, Officer Arrubla and his 19-year-old son were visiting Spitting Cave, a popular cliff diving location on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. Although he didn’t plan on jumping in the water that day, after he observed a 20-year-old woman in distress, he grabbed two life jackets and went in to save her after the waves pulled her approximately one hundred yards offshore. Eventually, lifeguards were able to get into the area on personal watercraft and rescue the woman.
“I knew I had just seconds before the next wave would crash in on me. I didn’t want to get caught in between the rocks so I just sprinted out as fast as I could with the vest over my shoulder,” he explained. “You could see she was exhausted at that point. She had been treading water approximately 20, 25 minutes at that point.”
Officer Arrubla, a former New York Police Department Officer who has been with the Phoenix Police Department since 2006, also worked as a lifeguard prior to his law enforcement career.
CLICK HERE to read a Fox News story account of the incident.
CLICK HERE to read an account of the incident as reported by Phoenix’s KTVK News.