A Redding man has been recognized by the CHP for an act of heroism he did last month. The morning of September 12th Matthew Hall, of Hall’s Heating and Air Conditioning, was eastbound on Highway 44 near Victor Avenue when he saw a dust cloud ahead in the highway median. As he got closer he could see that it was a car scraping along the center wall, still traveling at highway speed. He knew that the driver must have been incapacitated and could see that it wasn’t going to end well. Hall Drove ahead of the car, matched its speed and then allowed the car to impact the rear-end of his vehicle. He kept slowing down, then shifted into park and put his emergency brake on, but the other car was still slowly pushing him along. Hall then got out and ran alongside the car, seeing that an elderly woman was behind the wheel unconscious. He used his fist to break the back passenger side window and climbed in so he could reach the ignition and turn the key to the off position. The California Highway Patrol Redding Area wanted to honor Hall for his heroic act in risking himself to save at least one life and maybe more. Several members of the command staff recently showed up at Matthew Hall’s business to present him with a CHP Community Service Award.
-Steve Gibson