Deputy Kenneth Vincent
Livingston County Sheriff Office
On March 23, 2019 a 35-year-old man called into the Livingston Central Dispatch to report that he was on a river bank and three armed men were trying to kill him. Following a ping of the man’s cell phone Deputies Kenneth Vincent and Irwin Davis were dispatched to the Tennessee River near the community of Grand Rivers.
Using a Search and Rescue boat the deputies were able to locate the man, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs and behaving erratically. After taking the man into custody and handcuffing him the deputies were in the process of putting a life jacket on the man as the boat pulled away from the shoreline. The man suddenly broke free and jumped into the frigid 40-degree water, immediately disappearing beneath the muddy surface.
Without regard for his own life Deputy Vincent immediately jumped into the water and after a brief struggle was able to bring the man to the surface. With the help of Deputy Davis, the man was pulled back into the boat. Both Deputy Vincent and the suspect were later treated as Lourdes Hospital in Paducah for hypothermia.
For risking his life to save that of a man who had little regard for his own life, Deputy Kenneth Vincent is present the Kentucky Sheriffs Association Medal of Valor.
