[NYP] These inmates really earned their stripes -- for saving a deputy’s life.Six Polk County jailbirds in Georgia sprang into action when they saw the officer collapse while supervising them on a field detail outside, 11alive.com reported.
"They could have taken the gun, got the work van and gone," Sheriff Johnny Moats told Time magazine.
"They could have done anything they wanted. They were out there by themselves with this one officer," he said. "If they would have left him there, it could have been hours before anyone came across him."
The men -- who were all jailed for minor criminal offenses -- were cutting grass at a cemetery when the deputy collapsed in 100 percent humidity.
"When he started breathing, it was just real heavy and real fast," said Greg Williams, who along with his fellow inmates opened the man’s shirt and removed his bulletproof vest to perform CPR.
Meanwhile, one of them called 911 with the officer’s phone.
The Sheriff’s Office applauded the inmates’ quick actions before EMS arrived.