Ex-Cop Takes a Bullet to Save a Labrador

Ex-Cop Takes a Bullet to Save a Labrador

Friday, June 29, 2001 - USA

BILLINGS, MT — Yellowstone County Deputies arrived on the scene to find Wayne Olivo, 49, bleeding on the side of the road with a small bundle at his feet. Police opened the bundle and pulled out a small black lab puppy, unharmed.

The incident occurred early Wednesday morning at about 3:00am, according to Sheriff Chuck Maxwell's report. Mr. Olivo was driving across the Huntley Bridge, westbound on Hwy. 312 over the Yellowstone River, when he spotted a man and a woman standing beside a van stopped on the bridge. Mr. Olivo pulled over to check if they needed help, at which point he heard the woman cry out, "Don't throw my baby in the river!"

Mr. Olivo realized that the man and woman had been arguing over a bundle which was now in the man's possession. Immediately, Mr. Olivo approached the man and managed to wrestle the bundle away from him but was unprepared when the man pulled a small revolver and shot once. The bullet passed through Mr. Olivo's left hand and into the left side of his chest, rendering him unconscious.

He awoke some time later and called 911 from his truck; the man and woman had driven off, leaving the bundle on the ground.

Officials are looking for a male Hispanic, 5' 8" tall and about 180 lbs. He was last seen wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and has numerous tattoos on his arms and a teardrop tattoo near one eye. The woman is petite, has long dirty blonde hair and was last seen wearing a blue dress and no shoes. They were driving a 1980s full-size Ford van, light in color with out-of-state license plates and a rear spare tire cover with “El Paso, Texas” written on it.

Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call the sheriff’s office at 256-2929 or Crimestoppers at 245-6660.

Wayne Olivo had served as a police officer in New Mexico prior to his arrival in Montana. Talk about "taking your work home with you"; apparently he's an incorrigible Samaritan.

In 1997, Mr. Olivo heard a woman screaming for help in an alley behind the Kwik-Way on Grand Avenue. He saw that she was being assaulted, so after instructing his wife to call 911, he ran to the woman's aid and pulled the assailant away and received a knife wound to the chest in doing so. Although he was able to disarm the assailant and pin him to the ground, it was now the woman who began attacking the superhero. In the end, both the man and the woman fled, and Mr. Olivo was treated at St. Vincent hospital for a flesh wound.

In another incident, his wife Kim describes how he went after a juvenile who was breaking into a friend's car. This time, he was able to catch the criminal without being injured, but no sooner had he done that than a pair of men appeared, put a gun to his head and demanded he let the juvenile go (which he did, wisely).

"I told him, from now on, let everyone else be killed," Kim adds.

Regardless of if that's sound advice, there's a little black lab puppy who is alive this morning (adopted by the 911 operator), thanks to a hero.

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www.DogsInTheNews.com	Volume I - Issue 6	June 2001