Last week, video captured two Ramsey County corrections officers helping a state trooper struggling with a person in crisis near Loring Park.

Ramsey County Sheriff Corrections Officer Lt. Shannon Williams and Ramsey County Corrections Officer Grecia Olmedo told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they were driving together and parked at a stop light near Loring Park in Minneapolis when they noticed a Minnesota state trooper struggling with a person who appeared to be in distress on the afternoon of Dec. 28.

“We’re watching it at first and then we notice the microphone on the trooper’s radio gets knocked off and at that point, we said we have to go help because it was a struggle,” said Williams.

Olmedo added, “We’re at the stop light and we just looked at each other and we saw the officer getting assaulted.”

No one was injured in the incident, as Williams and Olmedo said their de-escalation training kicked in and the person struggling with the trooper eventually calmed down.

“So, we knew that we could talk her through kind of what we were going to do, making her feel safe she was able to understand what we were saying and comply,” said Williams.

Olmedo told KSTP there was no way to know how dangerous the situation was initially because it was difficult to see if the person struggling with the trooper was armed with a weapon.

“We didn’t scan the scene to see if there were other people around and we then realized we didn’t have any weapons,” said Olmedo. “We didn’t even have our duty belts because we were off duty.”

Ramsey County Undersheriff Mike Martin said both corrections officers are exemplary employees.

“When I saw the video of what they did, I would like to say I was surprised but I wasn’t at all,” said Martin. 

“This is what our corrections officers do every day and they help the community, said Martin. “They reacted impulsively to help this trooper and they’re experts in de-escalation.”