By Mary O’KEEFE

Glendale police responded to what they at first thought was a vehicle used in an assault and ended up saving a man’s life.

On Thursday, Sept. 20 at about 2:30 p.m., GPD received a call concerning a vehicle that had hit several other vehicles in the 500 block of Glendale Avenue.

“At first it looked like a vehicle assault,” said Officer Matt Bolton.

The traffic accident was witnessed by another officer; Bolton and another officer responded to the call.

“While enroute it [changed] to a medical issue,” he added.

“I felt dizzy and knew I needed to pull out of the way so I wouldn’t hurt anyone,” said Albert Isagholian, the driver of the vehicle that eventually hit five or six cars.

Trying to get off the road was the last thing he remembers, he said. Isagholian had lost consciousness due to a heart attack.

“When I arrived, Officers Sharon Kim and Nelson Aguillon were pulling him out of the car,” Bolton said.

Drawing on their medical training, the officers immediately assessed the situation. They took Isagholian’s pulse, realized his breathing was abnormal and began CPR.

Several officers arrived at the scene, all taking turns administrating CPR. Lt. Oscar Rodriguez went to his vehicle and got the AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

“I took over CPR and the AED [was used],” Bolton said.

The machine shocked Isagholian once. The Glendale Fire Dept. arrived and, continuing CPR, transported him to the hospital.

Fate was on Isagholian’s side that afternoon. As he attempted to move off the road to safety, he hit several vehicles, some that were unoccupied parked cars while others were occupied. No one was injured in the other vehicles. He struck an SUV as his car moved toward the parking lot at Virgil’s Hardware, which stopped his vehicle. Bolton added if the SUV had not been there, Isagholian’s vehicle could have gone through the store window.

He was very lucky that the Glendale officers were so well-trained in life saving methods that their response was immediate and professional. Bolton said the department is trained not only in CPR but also in the same way the military is trained to respond to several types of medical incidents including shootings.

A lot of times, this is where the story ends. The patient is taken to the hospital and officers go on with their day. Bolton did call to get an update on Isagholian and discovered he had been admitted to the ICU.

“He actually called me (Wednesday),” Bolton said.

Bolton had been talking to Isagholian’s wife Karmen concerning their car and when she could come to get it, and was surprised when Isagholian himself called.

The couple met Bolton and the other officers at GPD to thank them for saving Isagholian’s life.

“I am very grateful to the officers,” Karmen said. “This is why I donate to the police. This is why. I want to thank the officers so much.”

The officers involved in the life saving rescue were Frank Martinez, Nelson Aguillon, Sharon Kim, Lt. Oscar Rodriguez, Matt Bolton, Art Obrusnik and Mike Woolner.

  Mary Okeefe