Middletown Security Guard, Officer Honored For Saving Woman, 87

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A local security guard and Middletown police officer were recognized as true heroes at the Monday night Middletown Twp. committee meeting, for their selfless actions saving the life of an 87-year-old woman who was unable to get out of her burning Shadow Lake Village condo. This is also not the first life saved by Officer Nicholas Manochio, who saved a drowning dog in Lincroft last winter.

As Patch reported, the fire broke out at 7:20 p.m. this past Saturday, Dec. 15 at a condo on Friendship Court in Shadow Lake. Shadow Lake Village is a 55 and over age-restricted community in the River Plaza section of Middletown. The community has private security guards who staff the front gate and patrol the complex. When he heard a condo was on fire, security officer Keith Thornton, 31, of Asbury Park, raced to the scene. He found the woman's 91-year-old husband, George Bowden, outside the house. He told the guard that his wife, Gladys, was still inside.

Thornton went into the burning home and found the elderly woman lying on her kitchen floor. Thornton began to move the woman towards the door. However, due to the excessive smoke in the home, he had to run out to get fresh air.

It was then that Patrolman Nicholas Manochio, who was the first police officer to arrive on location, talked to Thornton and learned that the woman was still inside the structure. He ran inside and was able to pull her her out.

Both Thornton and Manochio were honored Monday night. They are pictured below. Incredibly, this is not the first heroic save by Officer Manochio: Last winter, Jan. 3, 2018, he jumped into a frozen creek on Leedsville Drive in Lincroft and saved a dog that had fallen through the ice and was drowning. Officer Machio is a true asset to the Middletown community! Read that story:

Middletown Police Officer Honored For Saving Dog From Creek

Gladys, along with her husband, were transported to Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank to be treated for non-life threatening smoke inhalation. However, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the couple, their medical issues have worsened since the fire: Gladys has been moved to an ICU burn unit at St. Barnabas in Livingston to receive specialized lung treatment. George also fractured his hip after he fell while attempting to walk at the hospital, when he was instructed not to walk alone, his family members wrote. So he must now go to rehab after he is discharged from the hospital.

The couple's children have flown out to be with them at this time, their daughter, Lisa Bowden wrote on the GoFundMe page.

The fire was electrical in origin.

Sadly, the couple's dog was found later during a search of the building. Despite on-scene efforts to resuscitate the animal with specialized pet masks (donated to the Middletown fire department by the Canine Company earlier in 2018), the dog did not survive.

Photos used with permission from Middletown Twp. Past reporting: Cop, Guard Save Woman, 87, In Shadow Lake Fire In Middletown