By Steve Plunkett
What Police Officer Todd Sutton expected to be “a very uneventful” shift turned into a dramatic early-morning rescue at the Gulf Stream School.
Assigned to school detail on April 16 and working the front-gate area, Sutton “heard some commotion in the vehicle line, and he thought maybe two kids were just arguing, but it was holding up the line,” Chief Richard Jones recounted for Gulf Stream town commissioners at their May 8 meeting.
“So he started in that direction, and as he reached the vehicle, he realized that a child was choking inside the car,” Jones continued. “And without hesitation he performed the Heimlich maneuver several times until he was able to dislodge that object from that 11-year-old’s throat.
“Ended up being some string cheese.”
Sutton’s actions impressed his boss and his colleagues, who sat in on the commission meeting to watch him receive the department’s Lifesaving Award.
“We don’t know what the outcome would have been if the officer wasn’t present,” Jones said. “Obviously in a situation like that, even as parents we sometimes freeze up when it’s our own children, but it was, in my opinion, a heroic action, even though he doesn’t see it that way.
“You know, he didn’t want recognition because that’s the kind of man he is, but he deserves it and he’s going to be honored today,” the chief said.
After receiving the crystal award, Sutton was also a man of few words about the school detail he has done “countless times over the years.”
“It’s usually a very uneventful thing to do. This day was a little different,” Sutton said of the 8:10 a.m. encounter. “But I’m just happy that the child is OK and I was in the right place at the right time. That’s all I can say.”
Mayor Scott Morgan took a moment to praise Sutton’s heroism.
“On behalf of the town, we want to congratulate you for your courage, your sense of duty and for the honor that you bring not only to the Police Department of Gulf Stream but to our town,” the mayor said. “Congratulations and thank you very much.”
A veteran officer, Sutton joined the Gulf Stream Police Department in May 2013. He first became an officer in October 2005 and spent time on the police forces in South Palm Beach and Boynton Beach.
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