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Obermiller is East Hawaii’s Officer of the Month for July

MEDIA RELEASE

Aloha Exchange board member Joey Estrella presents an 'Officer of the Month' award to Officer Jacob Obermiller.

Aloha Exchange board member Joey Estrella presents an ‘Officer of the Month’ award to Officer Jacob Obermiller.

The Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaiʻi recognized Officer Jacob Obermiller on Thursday (July 23) as the East Hawaiʻi “Officer of the Month” for July.

Obermiller was honored for rescuing a man who had set himself on fire.

On June 29, Officer Obermiller and other officers responded to an apartment/condominium complex on Hualani Street in Hilo to a report of a man threatening to set himself on fire.

When they arrived, they found that the man had poured a flammable liquid substance on himself and on the floor of his apartment unit. The floor was already on fire when officers arrived and he threw the liquid on officers to keep them away, while also continuing to pour it on himself. He fell onto the floor, catching on fire, and then ran out of the unit.

While officers were attempting to get the man to roll on the ground, Officer Obermiller quickly broke the glass on the fire extinguisher holder in the hallway and extinguished the flames on the burning man.

The man sustained second- and third-degree burns to his face and upper body and required treatment at a hospital on Oahu.

Lieutenant Alan Kimura, who nominated Obermiller for the award, said his “quick and decisive action” minimized the man’s injuries, which “could have been life threatening.”

As “Officer of the Month,” Obermiller is eligible for “Officer of the Year.”

The East Hawaiʻi “Officer of the Month” award is a project of the Aloha Exchange Club of East Hawaiʻi.

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