Column: Aurora police officer ‘set the bar' by making heroism a habit

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

Aurora Police Officer Gerardo Chaidez should be getting used to all the attention he's received since last year when he saved the lives of a West Aurora High School student and a young father from Texas in two near-fatal incidents six months apart.
As if that isn't enough, in 2023, he was part of several officers who tried valiantly to rescue a driver who was unconscious and submerged in an icy retention pond off Eola Road.
Chaidez is getting all sorts of accolades for these heroics, including a really cool photo of him on the January/February cover of Officer magazine and segments about his heroics on at least three Chicago TV stations.
Among the impressive awards the 31-year-old Aurora police officer is also receiving are a couple of APD Medals of Valor, two Kane County Officer of the Year nominations and a Divisional Commendation Award. And most recently, he was honored by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police at an Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole meeting earlier this month.
But here's the title that might best sum up this humble hero: 'The Person You Want Coming Through the Door When Trouble Comes Calling.'
That's because Chaidez seems to instinctively go into action, and does so in a calm and cool manner. Consider what Aurora Police Sgt. William Sullivan had to say about the seven-year APD patrol officer after he saved the West Aurora High School teen's life as she was being attacked by the family's dog.
'I feel that Officer Chaidez's actions set the bar at the APD for his quick thinking, rapid decision-making and calm professional demeanor,' Sullivan said. 'There was no hesitation in his actions and Officer Chaidez knew exactly what the job called for in the exact moment and delivered with precision.'
Then there is this quote from his sergeant following the Texas incident that occurred while Chaidez was on an out-of-state vacation: 'Officer Chaidez has yet again set the bar for the entire department with his split-second decision-making.'
I'll get to the details of those two compelling narratives shortly. But first, a quick summary of the retention pond tragedy, when he was part of a multi-officer response to a vehicle that had flipped and was submerged in the icy water on Jan. 31, 2023.
Chaidez not only jumped into the pond and helped remove the unconscious man but alternated with another officer giving CPR to the victim until medics arrived.
Unfortunately, the driver did not survive. But the outcome was far better for the 15-year-old Aurora girl who was being attacked by the family's dog, the upper part of her arm already shredded, when Chaidez arrived on the scene, officials said.
'I was not expecting what I saw,' he said of the horrific event, adding that the attack started in the home and continued as she ran outside, shoeless and coatless on the bitterly cold and dark evening of Jan. 19, 2024.
'I just acted on the moment,' Chaidez told me, recalling the dog's grip on the girl's upper right arm that was nearly torn from her body.
'Once you overthink a situation, valuable seconds are lost and that's when mistakes are made.'
In seven seconds, according to police reports, the officer 'neutralized' the dog and began rendering aid to the girl who, Chaidez recalled, asked him to make sure and tell her family she loved them as she floated in and out of consciousness.
Chaidez continued talking to the victim as his partner Officer Rudy Dereza applied a tourniquet and waited for the medics, who eventually took her to Mercy Medical Center, where she was treated before going on to a Chicago trauma hospital.
He's not been in contact with the young victim or her family, but has heard she's doing 'good.' As is the motorcycle rider, whose leg was completely severed above the knee when a strong wind in Mitchell County, Texas, threw him into a guardrail on Highway 20 around 6 p.m. on July 27 of last year, officials said.
There's no question this man would have died had Chaidez not been passing through Texas with his three brothers on their way home to Aurora from a vacation, according to officials.
The youngest son of Jose and Socorro Chaidez was in the back seat asleep on that long drive when the accident occurred in front of their car. But the off-duty APD officer immediately jumped into action when awakened and raced to the side of the motorcycle driver, where he quickly pulled the victim to safety onto the shoulder of the highway.
Chaidez said he stopped traffic – a semi driver made a big difference by parking his truck across both lanes – in order to safely render aid to the man, whose leg now lay about 50 feet away. As his brothers called 911, Chaidez shed his T-shirt and made an improvised tourniquet, later adding a belt in his effort to apply as much pressure as possible to the bleeding wound.
The victim never lost consciousness, but realizing his dire situation, asked Chaidez to call his wife, who was home with their 5-month-old infant.
Still applying as much pressure as he could to the leg, Chaidez said he retrieved the man's phone, punched in his password and number, then put him on speaker, knowing that if the man did not survive, 'I wanted to give him an opportunity to talk to his wife.'
It was an emotional conversation that seemed to calm the man, and it did not end until Texas State Police arrived on the scene. Not surprisingly, when they learned this heroic passerby was a police officer, the response was 'good job … we're hiring.'
But Chaidez, a 2012 graduate of East Aurora High School who spent two years as an officer with the Illinois Department of Corrections, is perfectly happy working for his hometown department.
In April, however, he did return to Texas, where he was presented with yet another honor: The Texas Department of Public Safety's Director's Award.
Which can't help but make the entire Aurora department proud.
'Despite all of Officer Chaidez's heroics, video evidence, and being praised by the Texas Highway Patrol, he credited the motorcycle driver's survival with the phone call to his wife,' Sgt. Sullivan noted.
'Through all of this, Office Chaidez remains completely humble and dedicated to the service of others.'
For his part, words fail this reluctant hero when I asked specifically how he feels about being thrust into these life-and-death scenarios.
'I've always been pretty calm, even in stressful situations,' he finally said, noting that 'credit goes to God' for putting him where he needs to be.
'It's hard to explain. … I just do what I think is best in the moment.'