Good Samaritan​ Honored For Stopping Molester at Valley Mall

GRANADA HILLS, CA — A good Samaritan who chased after a man who molested a 5-year-old girl the parking lot of a Panorama City shopping center and a 71-year-old Studio City man who was stabbed trying to stop a shoplifter were among three people honored Thursday with Courageous Citizen Awards by Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey thanked Daniel Ayard with the Courageous Citizen Award for helping to capture the predator before he could get away. Ayard was one of several good Samaritans honored Thursday for risking themselves to help others.

Daniel Ayard rushed to the aid of the littel girl as she cried for help outside the Panorama City Mall on April 21, 2016. Then he chased after her assailant, Jorge Enrique Lopez Maza, who was sentenced in February to 15 years to life in state prison after pleading no contest to a lewd act upon a child. Maza preyed upon the little girl after he had offered to help find her grandmother when the two became separated at the mall.

Also honored were:

-- Donald Shaw, 71, of Studio City, who was stabbed multiple times in the neck and back on Nov. 21, 2016, after he intervened when a security guard yelled out for help while trying to stop a woman for allegedly shoplifting at a supermarket in the Valley Village area.

Richard Anthony Camacho, now 26, of North Hollywood, pleaded not contest to assault with a knife and was sentenced last year to seven years in state prison, while Camacho's girlfriend, Emily Saado, now 23, pleaded no contest to assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and was sentenced to two years behind bars.

-- John R. Eldridge, 63, of Lancaster, praised for calling for help for a man who had been shot, beaten and left in the desert in the Lancaster area because he was believed to have spoken to police about a gang's activities. Rudolfo Alcantar, 33, and Rosie Lee Morales, 24, were convicted of murder and other charges stemming from the victim's death nine days later. Alcantar was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and Morales was sentenced to 48 years to life in state prison.

"We are honored to recognize these heroes who put themselves in danger to help others and then made sure that justice was served in each of these cases," the district attorney said. "Their actions remind us that we all can make a difference in helping to stop crime in our neighborhoods."

The awards ceremony was hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Northridge.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office