Four young men in Calgary, Canada are being hailed as heroes after stopping the assault of a 15-year-old girl. Their actions earned them the Award of Exceptional Recognition from Calgary’s Police Department.
Arnaud Nimenya, Carsyn Wright, James Hielema and Starlyn Rives-Perez were hanging out together on a normal night just like any other. The four friends were skateboarding in an underground parking lot at a local mall when they noticed something that didn’t seem quite right.
The young mean noticed a man, who was very well-dressed, carrying a young girl who appeared to be very drunk and inebriated.
“She was screaming and yelling. She just wanted to be out of there. She was all scuffed up and dirty,” said Wright, one of the skateboarders.
The boys went up to the man and began asking him questions. The man reassured them that they were calling the girl’s father.
“You don’t want to really think of the worst in somebody like that. You don’t want that situation to be real, so you just brush it off and hope for the best,” Wright said.
The four skateboarders left, but still didn’t feel quite right about the situation. They decided they’d return a couple of minutes later to check on the girl. And it’s a good thing they did because what they saw happening next sent them springing into action.
After returning to check on the girl in distress, they saw that the man was sexually assaulting her.
“You walk in, and you see something like that, and you freeze. You don’t know what to do,” Nimenya said about his initial reaction.
As soon as the young men got over their initial shock about what was going on, they immediately stepped in to help the girl.
“He was trying to walk out and walk away from us,” said Nimenya. “He pushed me aggressively out of the way, kinda like just gives me the smile, like, ‘I can do this. You can’t do anything about it.'”
After refusing to stop his horrific actions, three of the young men chased the attacker off while one stayed behind with the girl.
The boys chased the man and ended up in a physical confrontation when the man picked up one of their skateboards and began to attack them. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the police arrived on the scene. They arrested the man and charged him with sexual assault.
The police soon got word of the four friends’ heroic actions and wanted to reward them by inviting them to the Chief’s Awards Gala. All four would receive an award from Chief Const. Roger Chaffin in recognition for their exceptional bravery. But, at first, the boys were unsure about taking a call from the police chief.
“We always thought we were going to be in trouble because we fought with him. When they called us, we didn’t wanna answer.”
Thanks to these boys’ heroic and brave actions, this young girl is safe today. They are a prime example of stepping in and doing what’s right, even if you’re scared.
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