The brave actions of two men from the East Bay were recently celebrated after they interceded and helped to save a female police officer who was being attacked along Interstate 80 in Fairfield, California.
On a Saturday morning, Gary Coslovich had been weaving in and out of traffic before he smashed into two cars going eighty miles per hour.
His reckless behavior caused those drivers to spin out.
When Coslovich was pulled over by an officer with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), witnesses say he flipped out when he saw it was a female cop.
He then began to beat her along the shoulder of I-80 westbound in American Canyon before reaching for her gun.
That’s when Joel Jones and his wife Annalisa, who run Spirit of Truth Church Worldwide, decided to intervene.
Joel Jones is a 61-year-old retired San Francisco County sheriff’s deputy who played football for Drake University and his wife Annalisa runs their church in Crockett.
They had seen Coslovich’s erratic driving prior to him being pulled over and followed him until they witnessed the attack on the officer.
Jones quickly ran over while throwing up his hands saying “No, No I’m not doing this!”
He believed that if he didn’t stop Coslovitch immediately that he would take away the officer’s gun and murder her right there on the side of the road–a thought which made him sick inside as he described it as “surreal” like something out of a movie or nightmare.
But what could one person do against such violence?
Jones relied on his skills as a former college linebacker and retired cop to knock Coslovitch off his feet–away from the officer–five feet away according to Fox 2 News reports.
While Joel fought off Coslovitch physically, Annalisa prayed for them both until Greg Bunting arrived at scene just moments later during his drive past I-80 Westbound in American Canyon.
Bunting is 52 years old with two children and has worked as motorcycle mechanic for many years now but says there are no words which can describe what he felt seeing that woman hit by man other than “it was sick.”
Both men held down Gary while backup law enforcement arrived shortly thereafter to take him into custody where he belongs finally charged with assault and battery against a police officer.
When asked about people calling them heroes both Joel Jones responded by explaining that they are neither superheroes nor heroes but rather servants instead–words which seem too humble given their actions.
Meanwhile the unnamed police officer received treatment at the hospital for moderate injuries sustained during the attack.