Rick Miller

Rick Miller is used to taking the heat in his job as a wild land

firefighter/engineer.

In June, he put enough heat on a robbery suspect that the police

were able to catch up with him as he tried to fade into oblivion.

On July 16, Mayor Gary Monahan announced that he had chosen Miller

as the latest recipient of the Costa Mesa Mayor’s Award.

Miller’s quick thinking and brave actions allowed him to gather

enough information on the suspect and his vehicle to ultimately lead

to the suspect’s arrest.

“In this case, I think he did all the right things,” Costa Mesa

Police Lt. Dale Birney said.

Miller said he was just following his instincts.

“I felt like I was in control of my situation and could take

myself out of danger any time I needed to, but you never know,” he

said. “I probably would do it again if I found myself in the same

situation and felt I could save lives and the property of other

people.”

Miller, a lifetime Costa Mesa resident, was at the Vons on 17th

Street returning a piece of rental equipment from the Rug Doctor on

June 16. He noticed a supervisor walking past him with a large stack

of bills and then his gaze fell upon someone who aroused his

suspicion. It was a man wearing a black beanie and dark sunglasses.

Then he noticed the man had black gloves on and, in his right hand,

next to his right thigh, was a gun.

“I knew in a matter of seconds, something was going to happen,”

Miller said.

Miller unobtrusively walked toward the exit. As he looked back, he

saw the suspect sticking his gun into the supervisor’s waist.

He did what he could to stop people from entering the main

entrance of the store and yelled for people not to go into the far

entrance.

“I was just thinking, if it were to turn ugly, the less people in

the store, the less could get hurt,” Miller said.

Once he had cleared the entrances, Miller jumped into his truck

and positioned it in the parking lot so he could see the suspect when

he exited the store. With one hand gripping the steering wheel, he

used his other to call 911 with his cell phone.

When the suspect exited the store, Miller followed him in his

truck and when that became impossible, he trailed him on foot, always

keeping a safe distance.

“Of course, I was always concerned he had a weapon,” Miller said.

“But I was more upset that he could possibly injure or kill some

innocent people for no reason.”

When the suspect jumped into his getaway car, Miller noted as many

details as possible about the vehicle so when he finally talked to

the police, he could give them as much information as possible.

About 15 minutes after Miller called in the information, the

suspect’s car was spotted. The suspect ended up leading police on a

short chase, tossing money and his gun out the window in the process,

Miller said.

Miller was elated when he heard the news and exchanged high-fives

with the police officers on scene.

“It’s really great to prevent someone like him from getting away

and becoming a career criminal,” Miller said.

The suspect, Michael Angelo Powell, was arrested on suspicion of

armed robbery at the scene.

Miller was presented with the Mayor’s Award at Monday’s City

Council meeting.

-- Story by Deirdre Newman,

Photo by Don Leach