Three Hughes County Sheriff’s Deputies have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest honor bestowed annually by the South Dakota Sheriff’s Association and the South Dakota Chief’s of Police Association.
Deputy Dan Eihlers, Deputy Clayton Green, and Deputy Gary Nickerson each received the Medal of Honor for their actions on March 7, 2023, responding to an aggravated domestic violence call in the Spring Creek area of northwest Hughes County.
According to the award nomination, gunshots were initially heard from inside the home followed by a six-hour long standoff in subzero temperatures. After multiple efforts to get the suspect to come out peacefully, law enforcement made a tactical approach to the home. A tactical team at the front of the home was supported by a second team along the side of the home. The second team consisted of Deputies Eihlers, Green, and Nickerson.
As the first team was about to make entry, the suspected unexpectedly emerged from a side garage door armed with a handgun and directly engaged officers. As team one engaged the suspect with gunfire, team two came under heavy cross fire as rounds penetrated the garage walls.
Sheriff Patrick Callahan said, “Team two recovered to safety under fire, regrouped, and then returned to as assist in the effort to capture the suspect.”
Ultimately, the suspect, 53 year old Henry Jacobsen, was captured without serious injury and taken into custody. He later pled guilty to domestic abuse, two counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and was sentenced to 25 years in the state penitentiary.
The criteria for the award reads; “For law enforcement officers who willingly distinguish themselves through an act of courage, involving a risk of imminent serious injury or death for the purpose of saving or protecting a human life or while taking an armed and immediately dangerous suspect into custody.” The South Dakota Sheriff’s and Chief’s of Police Associations work collaboratively to award the Medal of Honor each year
Deputy Eihlers, Deputy Green, and Deputy Nickerson received their awards at the associations annual awards dinner held Wednesday, April 17, 2023 in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Roughly 30 city, county, state, and federal officers were involved in the successful capture. Hughes County Sheriff Patrick Callahan said he wished he could nominate each for an award. “We have some of the finest law enforcement officers in the nation right here in South Dakota and Hughes County, and I’m very thankful to each of them for being there and answering the call to community service.”
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