Crime & Safety

State Senate to Honor Three Men Who Saved Walnut Creek Woman from Canal

Two CHP helicopter pilots and a Contra Costa Fire Protection District engineer will receive honors today for their rescue of 75-year-old Janet Hogan after the car she was in flipped into a storm-engorged canal.

BAY CITY NEWS--Three men who saved an elderly woman as she was being swept down a rushing flood canal in Walnut Creek on April 11 will be given a state Senate award today for their heroic actions.

California Highway Patrol helicopter Pilot Jason Hertzell, CHP Flight Officer Shaun Bouyea and Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Engineer Dave Manzeck will be given the award at the state Capitol in Sacramento at 9 a.m., according to the CHP.

Janet Hogan, the 75-year-old woman they rescued, had been in the car going to dinner with her son and husband when her son, who was at the wheel, had a heart attack or stroke.

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The car hit a fence and tipped over upside-down in Walnut Creek, which was rushing at about 10 to 15 mph from recent storms. During a news conference held after the rescue, Janet Hogan said she freed her husband, James Hogan, 79, first and watched as he was swept away unconscious in the swift current.

Next she tried to free her son, 40-year-old San Diego resident Tim Hogan, but he was wearing his seat belt and she couldn't move him. The next thing she knew, she was shooting down the canal calling for help. A group of children on the bridge saw the accident, called 911 and then ran along beside her, she said.

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Meanwhile, Hertzell and Bouyea had just come on shift and were in the hangar at the Napa Airport when they heard a call come over the radio reporting that a car had gone into Walnut Creek.

It was a 12-minute flight from the airport to the accident scene, Hertzell said. Bouyea said they called the fire district and told them they were available, but when they heard over the radio that there were people in the water, they left without waiting to be dispatched.

The rain was heavy as they were flying to Walnut Creek, but when they got there, the sky had just started to clear, Hertzell said. They spotted Jim Hogan first, but he was floating face down. They were working to retrieve his body when they saw Janet Hogan waving for help and went to rescue her, Bouyea said.

They lowered a hook to Manzeck, who was trained as a rescue swimmer, and hoisted him into the helicopter. As Bouyea was guiding the pilot into position, he said he saw Janet Hogan go under water once, then come up and look at him. She went under a second time and came back up and again looked at him. But the third time she went under, she didn't come back up.

He said that he thought she had drowned and described it as one of the most excruciating moments of his life. Bouyea helped Hertzell guide the helicopter into position and they lowered Manzeck into the churning 50-degree water. Manzeck said there was a downdraft as they were lowering him and he hit the water hard then went under for about 40 seconds.

While he was under water, Manzeck said he felt Janet Hogan's head hit his knee and he was able to kick her up onto a rock. She was unconscious and appeared to be dead, rescuers said. Logs floating downstream slammed into Manzeck as he was in the water and at one point his harness began to choke him and he had to be lifted out of the water to adjust it, he said.

When he was lowered a second time, Manzeck grabbed onto Janet Hogan and held her in a bear hug.

The helicopter flew them to shore, where paramedics performed CPR on Janet Hogan and revived her. She spent two nights in the hospital, but didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Tim Hogan was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office spent three days searching for James Hogan's body and finally found it near Buchanan Field Airport in Concord. James Hogan had volunteered with the sheriff's department for almost 16 years at the Alamo station, where he coordinated other volunteers, according to the sheriff's office.

 


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