Two Dixon residents were honored Monday, Sept. 15, for intervening in what city officials described as a life-threatening situation that occurred Sept. 3.

Dixon Police Chief Ryan Bivins presented Hayden Sweet and Jeremey Hunter with an Award of Valor at Monday’s city council meeting. The two disarmed a man who police later arrested after he chased another person with a knife Sept. 3 at Huffy’s Marathon gas station at 707 N. Galena Ave. in Dixon.

“We couldn’t be more proud to recognize these individuals tonight,” Bivins said. “These two individuals displayed courage that I have not seen in a long time, not only courage, but compassion and empathy.”

Ian O. Dunbar, 27, of Dixon is facing charges of aggravated battery, aggravated domestic battery, domestic battery, aggravated assault, carrying or possessing a knife with intent and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence in connection with the incident, according to a news release from the Dixon Police Department.

Dunbar is being held at the Lee County Jail. He was denied pretrial release at a detention hearing Sept. 4. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing set for 8:30 a.m., Sept. 17.

Sept. 3, the day of the incident, police responded around 10:30 a.m. to a report of a disturbance involving a knife at the gas station. Prior to officers’ arrival, Hunter and Sweet intervened and deescalated the situation, Deputy Chief Aaron Simonton said.

“It’s not too often that we get to see what they did. A lot of people, in our day and age, when something bad is happening, they take out their phone and they record it,” Bivins said.

Hunter told police he heard screaming near his residence and then saw a man armed with a knife chasing another man. He ran after them and ended up at the gas station, where the two individuals were running around the gas pumps, Simonton said.

Sweet told police he was driving to work when he also saw the two individuals near the gas pumps and jumped out of his vehicle, Simonton said.

Sweet tackled the armed man, injuring his hand while attempting to grab the knife. Hunter assisted and, eventually, got the knife away from the man, Simonton said.

Hunter continued speaking with the man “and deescalated the situation so much that the male allowed Hunter to hug him,” Simonton said. “This was a sincere display of Hunter’s human nature.”

Nobody else was injured that day, Simonton said.

At the meeting Monday, Bivins played a video from the gas station’s security camera that showed Sweet wrestling the armed man to the ground and Hunter kicking the large kitchen-style knife away from the man and hugging him.

“It is not every day a citizen is faced with a possible life-threatening incident that could put them in harm’s way to defend someone they’ve never met before,” Simonton said.

“You answered the call, which is a testament to your character and bravery,” Simonton said to Sweet and Hunter. “Due to your actions, you not only prevented a potential violent incident from taking place, you embodied what it means in putting others before oneself. Your response in serving a fellow citizen in need has not gone unnoticed, and you have earned our utmost respect and gratitude in doing so.”