Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presented Victor Perez with an official state certificate of recognition for what he did. Perez is an unemployed construction worker, and Schwarzenegger had nothing but praise for his heroic actions.
"Victor Perez risked his own life and saved another, that's the extraordinary thing. He had no idea if this person has a gun, or what or how this is going to end up," the governor said. "I played many action heroes in my movies, but this guy is a real action hero."
Perez had watched television news coverage of the girl's abduction on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning he saw the suspect's truck, jumped into his vehicle and chased down and confronted the driver.
The suspect, Gregorio Gonzalez, pushed the little girl onto the street and sped away, but was eventually arrested by police.
