Ramsey County corrections officers hailed as heroes after off-duty intervention

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Two Ramsey County Sheriff’s officers are being recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty. It all stems from an incident last week involving a Minnesota State trooper. And it was all captured-on camera.

Lieutenant Shannon Williams and Grecia Olmedo are corrections officers for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Their duties are to protect, serve and recruit. 

During an interview with FOX 9's Bisi Onile-Ere, Lt. Williams said, "We’re looking for people who are interested in giving back to the community, communication and active listening."  

Last week, their recruitment efforts led them to downtown Minneapolis. They were on the road and off duty, but still on the job. 

"We noticed a person in crisis waving their hands and kind of blocking traffic," said Williams. 

Traffic cameras on Lyndale Avenue near the I-94 overpass show the two officers in a white SUV. 

"We kind of watched for a second and a state trooper pulled up and started engaging in conversation with the person in crisis and right away that person started assaulting the state trooper," said Williams. And they say that’s when they jumped into action. "The moment we saw his radio almost falling off as he was calling for assistance, we both looked at each other were like he needs help and we need to help him," said Olmedo. 

One camera angle shows Williams, Olmedo and the trooper trying to handcuff the woman as she struggles to fight back. "We didn’t know if she had a weapon so that’s why we quickly grabbed her arms and handcuffed her," said Olmedo.

"She was struggling quite a bit to kind of comprehend what was happening, and we were able to talk to her, she was able to understand what we were saying, and we were able to handcuff her from there," Lt. Williams said. The entire encounter lasted about five minutes.

"What they did quite frankly was heroic," said Ramsey County Undersheriff Mike Martin. 

For Lt. Williams and Olmedo, it's all in a day's work. "It feels amazing, it feels amazing because we love to help people, we enjoy helping people," said Olmedo. 

Lt. Williams said, "Corrections isn’t something that you hear about very often, so it’s nice to be able to shed light on the career that we do because it’s very important work. I think that sometimes it gets overlooked. So it’s really great to be able to have people see the video and be interested in this position and show them this side of law enforcement."
 

The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office is always recruiting new employees. To be a corrections officer, you must have a high school diploma or equivalent. For more information you can reach Lt. Williams at 651-266-9504.