The Sunnyslope Kiwanis Club paid tribute to Phoenix Police Officers Brian Gentry and Christopher Zak, as well as their supervisor, Sgt. Michael Sales, at a special luncheon on Feb. 11.

            The three police officers responded to a trespassing report at a vacant residence on the evening of Nov. 20. A neighbor had reported hearing loud music. When they arrived, the officers noted that all the doors and windows of the home seemed to be secure, and there was a realtor’s lock box on the front door. They looked in the windows and saw a totally empty house.

At that point, they could have left, writing it off as a non-issue. However, they could hear a faint noise coming from the detached garage in the back yard. After determining that the perimeter fence was too rickety to scale, they managed to force the lock on the back gate. The officers found the access door to the garage, and when they opened it they found the garage to be engulfed in exhaust fumes. Inside was an idling vehicle with a woman slumped over unconscious in the driver’s seat. On the floorboards of the car they found an open bottle of drain cleaner, several open liquor containers and open prescription pill bottles.

            They found a pulse and immediate called for rescue services. She was transported to the hospital. A full recovery was expected because of the early intervention by these officers, who persisted in their investigation despite the initial appearance of nothing being amiss. Doctors determined that the woman, who later said she was having business troubles, would surely have died without the officers’ assistance, leaving behind a grieving family.