Columbus councilmen handed down suspensions to three Public Works Department employees Tuesday evening.
In a brief executive session that punctuated an otherwise light agenda, the council voted to suspend one of the employees for three days, and two others for two days each. All suspensions are without pay, and City Attorney Jeff Turnage said they came as a result of the workers failing to follow departmental procedure.
Eight police officers received commendations before the council Tuesday, as well, including one who saved a man’s life at the scene of a traffic accident.
Officer Edgar Lemus, according to body camera footage shown to the council and the public attending, responded to an accident recently where a pickup was turned over on its side. Lemus broke through several windows in the vehicle, giving the pinned man instructions to cover his face each time.
Ultimately Lemus extracted the man from the pickup to safety.
Chief Fred Shelton formally commended seven other officers, all on the same patrol shift, for their performance at a commercial burglary scene earlier this month that yielded two arrests.
Officers responded quickly to a business that had been burglarized, Shelton said, and found one suspect in the bushes holding the cash register. That arrest led to officers finding a second suspect.
Officers commended for that instance included John Compton, Raymond Cyr, Alvin Ellis, Jemarco Harris, Toni Howard, Roger Tate and Joshua Vandiver.
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