A quick-thinking CRIT Game Warden likely saved the life of an elderly motorist.
While on routine patrol in late June, Warden Alejandro Lopez III missed the turn off to Agnes Wilson Rd as he was returning from West Boundary patrol. As he turned his vehicle around, he noticed a vehicle facing northbound off the southbound shoulder of the road. He got out of his truck and walked to the back of the car to run the license plate and found a man lying in the bushes in the desert area.
The man told Warden Lopez he got out of his vehicle for a rest stop, fell over, and could not get back to his feet. He told Lopez that he had been lying there for over three hours in direct sunlight and he was having trouble breathing.
Warden Lopez Immediately requested medical attention for the man identified as 86-year-old Luis Gonzalez. Warden Lopez provided Mr. Gonzalez with water and improvised shade, keeping him calm as he waited for medical assistance to arrive.
Gonzalez was transported to the La Paz Regional Medical facility. Paramedics told investigators Mr. Gonzalez might not have survived if he had been exposed to the elements for another hour.
Chief Game Warden Woodrow Sharp said Warden Lopez’s attention to detail and patrol procedures led to Mr. Gonzalez being located and rescued from certain death had he not been found.