Salt Lake's top cops honored

It was the kind of scenario that action movies are made of.

A man was reportedly being held hostage — tied up and beaten and thrown in the trunk of a car — and was going to be killed before the end of the night.

The Drug Enforcement Administration got wind of what was happening through an informant and called Salt Lake police to respond. The confidential informant was working to delay the murder as long as possible.

Lt. Dave Hoffman took the call and was ready to grab a group of patrol officers and head out. As luck would have it, the SWAT team was training nearby that night.

Thirty minutes later, the SWAT team raided a local auto-repair shop, at 344 W. Paxton Ave. (1180 South). The team arrested the suspects and found the victim barely alive.

"He was severely beaten to the point he didn't even resemble his photo," Hoffman said.

For their efforts on that October 2008 incident, the SWAT team, Hoffman and others involved were recognized during the Salt Lake Police Department's 29th annual awards ceremony Tuesday. Hoffman was awarded the Police Star, given to officers who perform courageous acts involving personal hazard in protecting or saving human life.

"It was one of the most intense things I've been involved in as a police officer," he said. "The majority of officers working will never experience this type of situation.".

Hoffman called it a good team effort, noting that the SWAT team did all of the muscle work. He coordinated the effort.

Other awards handed out Tuesday included a Citizen Service Medal to Karl Lins, who helped a police officer who had crashed on his bicycle and was knocked out in the road; Officer of the Year to detective Don Ouimette; and Civilian of the Year to Patricia Williams.

Police Chief Chris Burbank said he has plenty of officers and civilian workers who do great things every day, although not all of them become high-profile events. Those who received awards Tuesday represent all of the department's hard workers, he said.

"It's representative of the good work they do every day," he said.

E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com