Four South Kitsap residents were awarded a Citizens Certificate of Merit from the City of Port Orchard at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Heather Londo, Kathryn Bohannan, Cory Cedar and Kurt Boeznik were recognized for stopping a violent assault and rendering aid during an April 25 stabbing in downtown Port Orchard.

“This was a terrifically brave act,” said Port Orchard Police Commander Geoffrey Marti. “They potentially could have saved somebody’s life here.”

Londo and Bohannan were driving a green minivan southbound on Bethel Avenue the afternoon of April 25 when they noticed two individuals fighting in the parking lot of Carter’s Chocolates. When they pulled into the lot, Jason McEdward, a 35-year-old Port Orchard resident, ran over to van and said 26-year-old Stephen Garner had stabbed him.

“He said, ‘I’m stabbed, I’m stabbed,’” Bohannan said. “Then the other guy started walking away.”

Londo and Bohannan followed Garner in the van to Mitchell Road as he quickly walked away, Londo said. She said she was half hanging out the van’s window screaming at him to stop and turn himself in to police.

“I kept telling [him] he needed to go back,” she said.

Garner eventually returned to C and S Auto Service where he was arrested without incident by the Port Orchard Police. Meanwhile, Cedar, the owner of C and S Auto Service, and Boeznik had administered aid to McEdward. Cedar said they had to coax the stabbing victim to lay on the ground and wait for an ambulance to arrive.

“We tried to keep him calm,” Cedar said. “He was pretty amped up initially.”

McEdward was transported to Tacoma General Hospital with non life-threatening injuries. He was released from the hospital Monday. Garner is expected to be charged with assault with a deadly weapon in Kitsap County Superior Court, Marti said, a felony that carries as much as 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Marti said in more than 30 years in police work, he has rarely scene a group of four individuals act so quickly to prevent further crime.

“The action of all of these individuals is impressive,” he said.