Police are honoring Patriots offensive lineman Justin Herron and crediting him with preventing a sexual assault of a retired schoolteacher in Arizona.
According to police reports, a man shoved a 71-year-old woman to the ground and began trying to remove her clothes while threatening to sexually assault her.
Herron, who was in the park nearby, heard the commotion and sprung into action.
“At that moment, I was in shock,” Herron said. “It was 11 a.m., middle of the day, in a very open field and the fact that it happened there at that time was just very shocking. I wish I could tell you what I was thinking, but I could just tell someone needed help. All I could do was rush myself over there to make sure I could help the victim and I could comfort her and be the best person I can be.”
Even while intervening, Herron was careful to not use too much force in stopping the attack.
“I’m a football player, so I’m kind of big. I try not to be too aggressive with people knowing I could potentially hurt somebody,” Herron said. “I do have a loud voice. I yelled, told him to get off of her and then yanked him off and I told him to sit down and I told him to wait until the cops come.”
“A 30-year-old man named Kevin Caballero has been arrested,” Pro Football Talk reported. “The Tempe Police Department presented Herron and Murry Rogers, another man who came to the woman’s aid, with Outstanding Service Awards today.
Herron has just wrapped up his rookie season in New England. The Wake Forest grad played appeared in 12 games, starting six.
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