Bradenton Beach Police Department Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz was the proud uncle at the annual Manatee 100 Club dinner.
Diaz’ nephew, Palmetto Police Officer Lucciano Diaz, won Officer of the Year — the top award — at a May 14 annual dinner where Manatee County law enforcement honors its own.
“He’s like a son to me,” said Lenard Diaz.
Lucciano Diaz won the award for measures he employed in saving a woman’s life.
“He was out on detail in a Palmetto bar when a fight broke out. A female had been stabbed in her arm. He was watching her walk out — and it was like in the movies when everything slows down — and this lady was shooting out blood.
“He’d just been to training, a survival class,” Lenard Diaz explained.
His nephew grabbed a kit from his car and tourniquet and stopped the woman from bleeding out before EMS arrived.
The club chose Lucciano Diaz for heroic police work from among Manatee County law enforcement nominees, including: Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the police departments of Bradenton, Palmetto, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach.