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Chula Vista Police officer to be honored with Congressional Badge of Bravery

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CHULA VISTA, Calif (KGTV) -- A Chula Vista Police officer stabbed while on duty will be awarded the Congressional Badge of Bravery.

On July 27, Officer David Sachs will be awarded the badge by United States Attorney for the Southern District of California Robert Brewer.

The award, created in 2008, honors exceptional acts of bravery in the line of duty.

On September 19 of 2017, Officer Sachs along with Officer Leo Banales and Chaplain Wes Anderson responded to a home on Monterey Avenue after receiving a report that a man’s neighbor threw a large piece of concrete over his fence, injuring the victim.

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When officers arrived, the victim pointed out the suspect’s house. After knocking on the door, the suspect’s mother answered and invited the officers in.

Police say, though they didn’t know at the time, the suspect, described as a 6-foot-tall man in his late 20s, was suffering from emotional or psychological distress.

After stepping into the home’s kitchen, the suspect started attacking Sachs with a knife, stabbing him multiple times in the face, head and arm.

Police say Sachs was able to knock the suspect to the ground while yelling “Knife! Knife! Knife!” to his partners.

The suspect then lunged at Banales with a knife before he and Anderson went outside. According to police, Sachs drew his weapon and told the suspect to drop the knife before the suspect blocked the exit and attacked him again with the knife.

RELATED: Officer stabbed, suspect shot three times in Chula Vista

Police say Sachs then moved the suspect’s mother behind him for safety and shot the suspect. The suspect collapsed in the dining room after being struck.

After hearing the shots, Anderson went back to the home’s front door to help. After more officers arrived, medical aid was given to the hospital who was taken to the hospital where he later died.

Sachs was stabbed six times. Following seven months of recovery, he returned to full-duty and is still serving today.

In May of 2018, Sachs was awarded a Medal of Valor and Purple Heart by the Chula Vista Police Department.