Police officer saves 88-year-old man by 'tackling' him


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SALT LAKE CITY — Ben Montoya, 88, doesn't begrudge detective Shauna Bills for tackling him onto the pavement. Despite a blow to the head and a few bruises, he says he's better off for it.

"She saved my life," Montoya said.

Last Sunday night, Montoya and several family members were leaving Smith's Ballpark after the Bees game. Bills was directing traffic, at 1300 South and Richards Street.

"A family approached to go across," Bills said.

But just as Montoya started walking, she noticed something.

"I was watching a Jeep as it came eastbound," she continued. "He was coming at a rather rapid pace."

Bills says she called out for Montoya to stop, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"I made the decision to put myself between him and the car," Bills said. "[I] grabbed him, and started going back to the sidewalk. Unfortunately, we both lost our footing and I tackled him."

Montoya says he was disoriented and didn't realize what had happened. He was taken to St. Mark's Hospital and kept overnight as a precaution.

"No broken bones or (anything)," Montoya said. "I still got a few bruises, but other than that, I feel really, really good."

Montoya's son in-law, Richard Prime, says his family is especially grateful, because they had already been mourning a major tragedy. On Feb. 16, Montoya's son, James Montoya, and his wife Melanie Clement were killed in a car accident.

"The family is still grieving," Prime said. "That was our reason for taking him out to a ball game, because he needed a little bit of a diversion."

Montoya says he'd like to meet Bills and thank her. Coincidentally, Bills retired from the Salt Lake Police Department Friday. She says she was only doing her job Sunday.

"My brothers and sisters in blue, which I call them, would have done the same thing," Bills said.

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