Tonight at 5:30 pm, on the steps of Atascadero’s city hall, a ceremony will be held to honor the life of 11-year-old Jose Gutierrez.
Gutierrez was the boy killed in a hit-and-run accident earlier this year, the primary suspect being 31-year-old Zachary Bernal, who has pled not guilty.
The ceremony will posthumously award Gutierrez the honorary lifesaving medal – one of the highest honors the Atascadero police department can bestow.
The department says this reward is for Gutierrez’s “final, heroic act,” warning his friend of the oncoming vehicle and saving his life.
