A UCSB police detective, who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a hit-and-run accident he allegedly caused, was one of the officers who responded to the bloody Isla Vista shooting rampage eight years ago.
Lt. Bradley Prows, 60, was a corporal on May 23, 2014 when university police and other law enforcement officers responded to find six UCSB students had been shot and killed. The shooter, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, wounded 14 others as well before killing himself.
Then-Cpl. Prows helped administer CPR to three of the gunshot victims, one of whom survived.
He was one of five UCSB officers individually honored a year later for their heroics that tragic night when they were presented a police valor award. Then-Police Chief Dustin Olson called up about 15 UCSB personnel, including sergeants, dispatchers and detectives, to be recognized for their actions that night.
The UCSB officers and dispatchers worked hand in hand with their counterparts at the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, many of whom also were individually recognized at the awards ceremony, including five who received a medal of valor.
The first responders were credited for stopping Mr. Rodger before he harmed more people.
Three UCSB officers, including Cpl. Prows, plus five Sheriff’s Department officers, were individually honored at another ceremony as well, when they received the 2015 H. Thomas Guerry Award for Valor, considered one of the most prestigious honors in law enforcement.
Cpl. Prows and the other award winners spoke to reporters before the official ceremony. Cpl. Prows said he was “humbled” by the award. He said the memory of that night was still fresh in his mind. To get through the traumatic event, he said, he kept reminding himself that he “was just doing my job.”
He had been with the university police for two years after retiring from the California Highway Patrol after a 31-year career.
Lt. Prows was arrested on Aug. 7 by CHP officers after a two-car collision on westbound State Route 246 in Solvang in which the right side of his pickup allegedly clipped the left side of a Honda in front of him which the driver was trying to park.
Instead of stopping, however, he allegedly continued driving for about a mile, allegedly ignoring attempts by the driver of the following Honda to flag him down.
A CHP investigation determined that Lt. Prows allegedly was under the influence of alcohol, and he was arrested. No one was injured in the collision.
The university has placed him on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the CHP criminal investigation.
email: nhartstein@newspress.com
