Ga. deputy removes shirt, duty belt to talk down woman in crisis
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. July 12 2022— Deputy Nicolas Reynolds was hailed a hero for saving the life of a woman in crisis on June 30, according to FOX 5. Video shows the woman sitting on the edge off a roof, naked. Reynolds responded and complied with the woman’s requests – including removing his shirt and duty belt – to gain her trust.
“My concern was not about my safety,” Reynolds told FOX 5. “I knew I had other deputies around me, and we just had to do what we had to do to get her off the roof safely.”
The woman was yelling in Portuguese, and it became clear she didn’t speak enough English to communicate, so police brought in a Spanish speaker from the solicitor’s office, the report said.
“We were able to communicate a little bit since some words sound the same in Portuguese and Spanish and I tried to calm her down,” said Francesca Baez.
The distressed woman saw Baez had a sandwich and asked Baez throw it to her. The woman then demanded Reynolds remove his shirt, safety vest and weapons, the report said. Reynolds complied.
“She said I had 60 seconds to eat [the sandwich], and I was just trying to build her confidence, so I ate it quickly,” Reynolds told FOX 5.
As the woman reached for Reynolds’ discarded vests, other deputies came from behind to pull the woman from the ledge, the report said.
“I was relieved when it was over, but really it just comes down to staying calm and having good training,” Reynolds told FOX 5.
“In my eyes, Deputy Reynolds is a hero. They all are,” said Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat to FOX 5. “There were a lot of unknowns out there, and they did exactly what they had to do to save her.”
Reynolds has been a negotiator for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office for two and a half years, the report said.
