Marin County Deputy Receives Medal of Valor After Storm Rescue

Marin County Sheriff Deputy Mike Dawson was awarded the Medal of Valor by the California State Sheriffs Association on October 21, 2026. ABC7 Bay Area and Hoodline reported that the deputy received the state's highest public safety honor for rescuing a woman from a submerging vehicle during a severe storm last winter. [1][2]

The rescue occurred during heavy floodwaters last winter when a vehicle became trapped and started sinking. Deputy Dawson moved quickly to pull the woman out of the rising waters and bring her to safety. ABC7 Bay Area reported that Dawson expressed surprise at the attention, stating that he was simply doing his job. [1]

Marin County is located in the northwestern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, directly across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The county seat and largest city is San Rafael, and the area had a population of 262,321 people as of the 2020 census. [3]

As HEROIC BREAKING NEWS reported earlier, emergency responders and community members in other regions have also recently been recognized for vehicle flood rescues. In Champaign, Illinois, police officers and bystanders were commended after swimming out to save a 90-year-old driver from a flooded pond. [5]