He's got a knife in his hand.
He's got it wrapped around her neck.
We can't just leave him there.
We don't know if they're armed or even ready to fight.
The biggest thing that I have to worry about
is not knocking him off the cliff and killing him.
Sheriff's department! Come outside!
Patrolman Lee Rose is the first responder.
We have the ability in our cars to hear live 911 calls,
and I remember hearing it was hectic,
someone screaming about something about a knife
or that someone had been cut.
Our department had had dealings with Mr. Appleby before.
He had assaulted and strangulated that victim
in the past as well.
- Hi. - Hurry, hurry.
I saw the people there, and then they told me
he's cut her.
I realized that this was probably beyond a normal
domestic call at this point and that he was armed
and that she was injured.
Get out!
I see Mr. Appleby holding our female victim as a hostage,
using her as a human shield.
He's got a knife in his hand,
and he's got it wrapped around her neck.
It was a fairly small landing
and a surprisingly sturdy door on this house.
It felt like forever trying to get this door open.
I was so relieved when I was able to get the door open.
It felt like every second mattered at that point.
And once I got close to the door,
I can hear him talking to her.
A sergeant arrives as backup.
Go away!
He tries to kick it, but it's not opening.
Uh, but it was very relieving to finally have another,
at least another person there.
While we were trying to open the door,
I could hear Mr. Appleby yelling and screaming at us.
He was extremely erratic.
Essentially something to, "Go away,"
and he'll quit or "Go away" and he'll come out,
which obviously we don't have the ability to do.
We can't just exit the house and leave him there.
We know we have to rescue her from him.
I'm hoping that she's still alive at this point.
We couldn't hear her saying anything or talking
or screaming, so I had no indication that she was
actually still alive in that room.
As officers struggle to break the door down,
Detective Robert Toussant arrives.
So at this point, Patrolman Toussant arrives on scene.
I can see that he has his rifle with him.
So I moved him into that assaulter position
and took my step back.
The rifle gives him a lot more accuracy and firepower.
Uh, it is the primary weapon of choice
if we're gonna be going into a situation like this.
Yep.
I was the only one that grabbed my rifle
out of the car.
and I know that the best place for me is gonna be
in the front as the lethal cover.
I could hear George Appleby say that
he was opening the door.
And I kind of remember thinking, there's no way that
you could be opening the door right now from over there,
I don't hear the locking mechanism moving
and I hear your voice in another place inside of that room.
His words and actions are not matching,
if she was free she would have came to the door herself and unlocked it.
You're just trying to say whatever that you can
to get us to go away.
Here you go.
The officers using the Halligan tool
struggled a little bit--
that our Halligan tool from the back of our cars were very long,
and it was a very narrow hallway that we were working in,
uh, so it became hard to get the room to work it.
Get it open!
George didn't give us any other option other than
to shoot him,
it was to the point where we have to shoot him
to save Anita.
You can see her neck is bleeding.
You can see that he still has the knife
pressed against her body.
At one point, Anita does move her head,
and they kind of separate, which gives me the opportunity, um,
to take a safe shot.
Immediately following the two shots that were fired,
um, the rest of the officers on scene rushed in
to grab Anita and get her out of there.
We know that she needs medical attention.
59-year-old George Appleby has a rap sheet including
domestic violence, drug trafficking, and assault.
He is confirmed dead at the scene.
Following the shooting after we got back outside,
that was really when...
the-- the seriousness of the situation really hit me.
That's when my heart rate felt like it was up super high
and, you know, a little bit shaky for a half a second
and just needed to take that minute to breathe
and calm down.
Ultimately, I felt bad that Mr. Appleby put us
into this position.
It was his actions that forced us to take the action we did.
The victim was Appleby's girlfriend.
She is treated for superficial cuts to her neck and body.
We saved a woman's life,
which is wild to sit here and say.
You train for it, but also,
you don't know that you'll ever actually be in that position,
but it is-- it is definitely a heavy thing, uh,
taking someone else's life.
The five responding officers
are all honored for their bravery.
They receive the 2024 Top Cops Award
from the National Association of Police Organizations
in recognition of their handling of the incident.
Ultimately, I'm very happy, you know, with the outcome.
You know, we work together extremely well,
and I'm proud of the work that we did.
You know, while we ended up having to take a life,
we did rescue a hostage.
What we're asked to do is rescue people in harm's way,
and, you know, we did our job that day.
Entering-auto suspects, they're usually involved
in more than just breaking into cars.
And they will do what's necessary
to prevent themselves from being caught.
As I'm going down the hill...
I see the car that was described to us.
They know I'm there now.
10-80 was code for we're in pursuit.
It is extremely important to keep my stress levels down.
As the vehicle approaches the intersection,
Peachtree Sergeant Keith Isaac is ready and waiting.
I had been sitting at the intersection,
highway 54 and Planterra, for a couple of seconds.
When I hear 1080, my adrenaline starts.
54, Planterra.
Vehicle's in the opposite lane of travel.
My mind like, "Oh my God, this is bad."
We've got to get this car stopped.
The PIT maneuver is the best option that we have.
It feels like time is slowing down.
It's almost like a video game.
When I see the car hit the curb, I'm thinking that we've got it.
I know that there are a couple more officers right behind me.
My assumption is that those two are going to go in
and pin the vehicle in so that it can't go any further.
The passenger door opens up, and the passenger looks like
they're about to take off running across traffic.
54, .
Sergeant Isaac catches up with the pursuit.
As I am approaching the intersection,
I can see Officer Akins make contact with the vehicle.
The vehicle began to move forward.
They're not giving up.
I saw the passenger door open.
I was like, "OK, all right, I'm gonna ram it."
They were able to get off of the curb
with their broken wheel that is crooked.
It 100% confirmed the-- the fact that these guys
weren't gonna stop.
They're on PIT.
When I rammed the vehicle,
I then became the primary officer.
OK-- we're in it now. We gotta stop it.
As I was behind the vehicle, I attempted to PIT it again.
Slide into the civilian truck.
It was just a clip. I'm thankful for that.
This could end badly.
We don't have control of pursuits.
But we try to end it as soon as possible
and take that control back before someone gets hurt.
There wasn't no time to think about nothing.
It was showtime.
Two men jump out of the car and take off running.
I see that Sergeant Isaac is chasing after the male on foot.
The other male goes the opposite direction.
I'm trying to parallel the suspect in my vehicle.
I tell him that I have a police K-9,
and my dog is going to bite him.
I did not have a dog at the time.
Uh, I don't have a dog now.
It was almost instantaneous of me saying that I had a dog,
did the suspect give up, and he was able to be arrested.
Nobody wants to get bit by a dog.
A lot of times criminals like to play the victim...
...and they don't take responsibility
for their actions.
He respected the fact that he had been caught
and that he had given up.
But we still had one outstanding.
The suspect ran across Highway 74 into a wooded area.
Tracking someone in that environment is very difficult.
A lot of places to hide.
We don't know if they're armed or even ready to fight.
In that area, you have garages.
You have wooded area. You have storage units.
I don't have anything to protect me
other than what's around me.
As the two officers begin a search of the woods
and surrounding properties, patrol commander
Lieutenant Hyatt is briefed on the situation.
Luckily, our K-9 officer was nearby and responded
to the area and immediately was able to get his K-9 partner
on the ground and begin tracking.
Typically, we try to saturate the area.
The moment that those subjects lay on foot,
danger doesn't subside, it changes.
It's a whole different set of factors
you're dealing with at the time.
Most of the time, they are armed.
20 minutes into the search,
there's still no sign of the suspect.
But officers aren't done yet.
Right, right...
Right there.
Down to the left.
The suspect still hasn't been found,
but officers know he must be close by.
That subject was contained a little bit.
We had a perimeter set up.
K-9 gets there, and their job is to...
you know, sniff out the subject.
When the suspects,
when they were taken into custody, it was very relieving.
I end up searching the vehicle,
and I find all types of evidence to support
that these two gentlemen were committing entering auto.
I find rubber gloves, a window punch,
which are commonly used to bust out windows.
And then I find in the back of the vehicle,
purses and wallets containing personal items
such as credit cards, driver's licenses.
And the fact that they're keeping people's credit cards
makes me believe that they're also planning to use
this information for fraudulent activities.
OK, just stay right there...
Both men plead guilty to multiple charges,
including identity fraud and obstruction of an officer.
Anthony Dixon is sentenced to three years in prison
and seven years probation.
Anisha Christopher is sentenced to two years in prison
and eight years probation.
Entering auto is a serious crime.
Some people may leave a firearm in their car
and their firearm gets stolen.
Um, and now it's in the hands of a criminal.
They can steal your identity, empty out your bank accounts.
It's the start of a larger crime.
The civilian vehicle, I just hit his tail light.
But after that, everybody was fine.
Overall, nobody got hurt.
My officers are going home.
Uh, the suspects are gonna jail, and I'm OK with that.
The local fire department is dispatched to the scene,
but the rescue needs to come from the air.
59 miles away, the Sonoma County Sheriff's
helicopter team is called into action.
Our helicopter program is a little unique.
Law enforcement is our primary mission,
but we also have search and rescue.
The subject was about 50 feet off the top of the trail
and was clinging to the cliffs below.
We better get there fast.
This is life-or-death situation
and time is of the essence.
25 minutes after receiving after receiving the 911 call,
the helicopter team arrives at the cliff
and starts its search.
The Southern Marin Fire Department
had arrived a little bit before we did.
There was a firefighter at the top of the cliff
that was pointing a flashlight down,
so I started using the thermal camera to scan the cliffs.
I saw him with a thermal imager.
I could see that he was so far up from the rocks,
I'd estimate 40 to 50 feet.
We realized right off the bat,
it was life-or-death, clinging to the cliff.
Waiting for help at the cliff top
is the man's partner, Tasha, who called 911.
It was late afternoon,
and we started walking down the beach.
Cody decided that this cliff looked just so enticing
and that he should climb it.
I could see that chunks of dirt
and sand were starting to slide off.
There were rocks that had started to crumble.
He just turned. He didn't say anything.
He just shook his head no. And I knew he was stuck.
It was very high.
A fall like that, I don't know how he would have survived
something like that, if I'm honest.
There was a spiral of thoughts.
How do you explain this?
How do I call his mother and tell her, like,
"Cody fell and he's paralyzed," or worse yet, "he's dead"?
Cody meets me on the porch every day when I get home.
No one would have been there.
Oh, God.
Our helicopter unit,
we use what's called vertical reference long-line.
We're one of the only aircraft in the nation that can do that.
What I do is, I hook a 100- or 200-foot rope
up to the bottom of the belly of the aircraft.
We remove the door of the helicopter
so that the pilot can look down and maneuver the helicopter
in order to put us into the correct position.
At nighttime, the lack of depth perception
that I have looking down the line is much more difficult.
The key thing is not to let that pressure get to you,
'cause that's gonna add stress.
You're gonna start over controlling the aircraft
and making things worse.
Every time I go on the line, I'm still a little bit nervous.
My fear was that he was just going to let go,
or he was gonna lose his footing and slide
and fall down the cliff.
We need to be fast, but we need to be smooth
so we don't blow him off the cliff.
As Pilot Cooper was flying me into Cody's location,
I started to get a spin on the bottom of the lines.
Rotor wash coming from the helicopter is
the air as it comes off the rotor blades,
kind of spins in like a spiral.
I kept trying to reach out and grab the cliff.
Helicopters by nature are very unstable.
They're also very, very sensitive in the controls.
The biggest thing that I have to worry about
is not smashing Larry into Cody,
knocking him off the cliff and killing him.
And eventually, Pilot Cooper was able to just slide me
a little bit closer.
And as soon as I got close enough,
I could grab onto the cliff myself.
I'm just hopefully seconds away from rescuing him,
and there's still a lot that can go wrong.
I was having kind of trouble finding my footing,
so I was sliding a little bit as I was behind him.
The ebbing tide below the helicopter
was making it really tricky to hold my position.
You know, the nighttime adds an increased risk.
It's so dark out, you have nothing
but what's on the helicopter.
In my mind, as I'm seeing them
lower this guy to retrieve Cody from the side of the cliff,
for me, it felt like this finish line.
Like, "OK, he's right behind him."
He has to be close to getting him.
It's a risk trying to pull his hands off.
My fear is that his hands and his body are the only thing
that's keeping him from sliding down
and falling off this cliff.
I could obviously tell that Cody was-- was scared.
And, you know, so I told him, "I got you, brother,"
just trying to kind of calm him a little bit.
When the line went tight and they came off the cliff,
I actually did a big exhale in the aircraft.
The huge sigh of relief came when they strapped me in,
and they finally lifted me off the cliff.
That moment of when I let go--
was the big moment that I knew I was safe.
I was talking to one of the emergency personnel,
and I turned and I saw Cody walking.
And it was this...
multiple sensations, as this entire experience has been,
all these different feelings.
My arms were shaking, my legs were still a little bit shaky,
and I had these scrapes on my legs.
The base of your home together is different bricks
from each of you.
And you think about losing your life partner like that.
How do you continue to build a house with bricks
from two people if there's only one?
I reflected back on that moment, uh,
just wishing I wouldn't have done it.
I'm definitely grateful for the rescuers.
You know, without them, I may not be here today.
This rescue was-- was very challenging.
Afterwards, when you kind of ponder it, like,
man, this, you know, this kid was in a really bad situation
and it very well could have been life or death.
That's when you start to kind of feel a little proud, like,
"We just accomplished this."
I'm adamant that if Cody was unable to hang on that night,
he probably wouldn't have survived.
There's obvious risks on in everything that we do.
But at the end of the day, when you do rescue somebody
or save someone's life, those risks are well worth it.
And, um, you know, I would put myself at risk every single day
to continue doing that.