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Officers Honored For Saving Trapped Boca Raton Boy

BOCA RATON (CBS4)- Two Boca Raton police officers along with a Boca Raton Community Officer were honored Wednesday for saving a trapped child in September.

On September 28, officers worked together to free six-year-old Dominic DeRoberts from under a 3,000 pound car.

Boca Raton Police officers were called and arrived just after 8 a.m. to find DeRoberts pinned underneath a car.

Motorcycle officer Mike Daly, officer Bruce Sonnenblick and community service officer Ernie Bucinskas were the first to arrive and quickly worked together to lift the car.

According to Boca Raton Police, DeRoberts tripped and fallen in front of a car as he was getting out of his grandfather's car.

"He thought he was dead," said Coleen DeRoberts, Dominic's aunt, back in September. "His leg was wedged. There was no leverage for him to bend the leg to get it out. He was dragged and his ear was severed."

That's when police officers and a group of bystanders stepped into action. One investigator calmed the boy while three first responders and some bystanders lifted the car.

He was taken to Delray Medical Center. He suffered a punctured lung and his ear had to be reattached.

"We thank these officers," Coleen told CBS4 earlier. "If they weren't strong enough, the outcome would have been very different."

The three officers were also honored by the Dori Slosberg Foundation and Congressman Allen West's Office.

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