Leandro Garcia saves woman’s lifeFree Access


Lisa Luna

Staff Writer

Leandro Garcia was honored at the June 7 Pleasanton City Council meeting, for excelling in his professional commitment with the City of Pleasanton and going above and beyond the call of duty on May 3.
Lisa Luna | Pleasanton Express

Pleasanton Police Chief Ronald Sanchez recognized Animal Control Officer Leandro Garcia at the June 7 meeting.

“It is with great pride and respect that I submit this report to you, on the life-saving act of our kennel attendant, Mr. Leandro Garcia,” Chief Sanchez said.

On May 3, at 7:30 a.m. Garcia was patrolling the Pleasanton River Park looking for stray animals. As he was driving through the park, he noticed a lady acting strangely. Her body language was abnormal, as if she were in medical distress.

“Leandro wanted to check on her because he had a feeling something was wrong, so he stopped and parked his animal control truck and approached the unknown female to check on her and ask her if she needed any assistance,” Sanchez said. “As he got closer to her, he observed that she had her hands on her throat, giving the universal sign that she could not breathe and she was choking.”

The woman’s face was blue in color, obviously in distress.

“He immediately grabbed a plastic water bottle from inside of his truck and pulled out his pocket knife and he cut the upper portion of the plastic bottle, because he thought it was the polite thing to do, so she wouldn’t have to sip from the bottle where he had already drank from,” Sanchez explained, which received some chuckles from the audience. “What a nice guy. I would not have thought of doing that.”

Garcia stated he assisted the female by pouring some water into her mouth and she immediately caught her breath and began breathing on her own.  The woman told Garcia thank you and he then got in his vehicle and got back to work.

“That is just the type of action that you can expect from Leandro Garcia everyday. Everyday he comes to work he gives 110 percent to this city. I think that is a pretty outstanding act on his behalf and I think he deserves a huge round of applause.”

Sanchez then presented Garcia with a plaque for his life-saving actions.

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