BOSTON – Barnstable County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Iverson was awarded the state’s Medal of Honor Monday for assisting a State Trooper who was violently assaulted by a motorist who he had stopped last summer on Route 6 in Yarmouth. It is the highest award bestowed by the Commonwealth to a Correctional Officer.
The trooper, Anthony Chatigny, was “safe because of the deputy’s action,” his supervisor wrote in a follow-up report that helped prompt yesterday’s medal. Its recipient “demonstrates actions above and beyond the call of duty, in the face of certain and imminent danger to life and limb.”
While off duty, Deputy Iverson came upon the scene shortly after 10pm one late August evening while en route to his mother’s house. The struggle between Trooper Chatigny and the suspect had spilled out into the travel lane and had already included an attempt by the suspect to grab for the trooper’s hand gun, two unsuccessful “tasings”, and the suspect’s attempt to run the trooper over.
The suspect had “kicked the Trooper repeatedly in the face and shoulders” when Iverson jumped out to help. “There is no doubt in my mind,” writes a supervising State Police lieutenant, “that not for Deputy Iverson’s selfless assistance, harm would likely have come to Trooper Chatigny or be may have been fatally wounded.”
The suspect was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (3 counts) and assault and battery on a police officer.
Sheriff James Cummings, who submitted the award on his deputy’s behalf, echoed that sentiment. “Deputy Iverson’s self-sacrificing reflects entirely on him. A fellow lawman was under attack and Eric wasn’t about to just drive by. He reminds all of us that answering the call of duty is what truly matters in this profession.”
