10:42am | District Attorney Steve Cooley honored four individuals yesterday at a Courageous Citizen Awards luncheon at the Queen Mary. The event was hosted by the Rotary Club of Long Beach.

Honored yesterday was Timothy Garcia, 54, of San Pedro, Francisco Castro, 44, of Long Beach, and Christopher Lloyd, 21, of Bellflower. Garcia helped police locate a murder suspect in a 2001 shooting death in San Pedro. Garcia cooperated with authorities over the course of eight years until the man was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 52 years to life in prison.

Castro and Lloyd witnessed a woman in an SUV collide with two moped drivers in Long Beach in February 2009. One of the moped drivers was killed. Castro and Lloyd pursued the fleeing SUV driver and informed police of her movements. She was captured, pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Robert Harvey, 48, witnessed a collision in which the driver rammed into a couple, their 2-year-old boy and the girl. The children were strapped into a toy wagon as they crossed an intersection in Long Beach on Sept. 11, 2009. The mother was struck and the children were trapped underneath the vehicle. 

The driver took off with the children still caught. The boy was freed and survived, but the little girl still was trapped as the driver again drove away. Harvey followed the vehicle and kept police apprised of the suspect’s every move. When the driver stopped his vehicle and set off on foot, Harvey told police, who captured the suspect. The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 36 years and eight months to life in prison.
 
The District Attorney’s Office presents Courageous Citizen Awards several times a year to citizens who have performed extraordinary acts of valor and selflessness in aiding victims, preventing crime, capturing suspects and assisting in criminal prosecutions.