2009 Officer of the Year
Deputy J. Middleton
Deputy J. Middleton
Deputy James Middleton began his career with the Sutter County Sheriff's
Department in 1997 as a Reserve Correctional officer.
On 06-01-1999 Deputy Middleton became a fulltime Correctional Officer and
worked as a Civil Deputy, Bailiff and Transportation Officer.
In August 2006, he transferred to the Patrol Division, where he currently
serves as a Resident Deputy for the South County. He is also a member of
the Sheriff's Department's SED team.
Deputy Middleton has shown a knack for being in the right place at the right
time and never losing a foot chase. This includes staking out an assault
victim's house only to see the suspect re-appear. Deputy Middleton gave
chase through the back yard of the suspect's residence, was bitten by the
suspect's dog and was still able to chase the suspect over several more
fences and backyards capturing him.
Responding to a fight with shots fired call, he saw a vehicle turn off the road
into an orchard. The vehicle later was determined to have one victim and four
suspects inside.
While patrolling Mosquito beach he heard a horn sounding in the river where
they found one victim trapped inside the vehicle that had driven into the
river. Deputy Middleton was able to free the victim.
While on Franklin Road, Deputy Middleton heard several shots being fired
and got behind the vehicle and saw suspects throw the guns out the window
of the vehicle. Gang members and had just conducted a drive by shooting.
While responding to a burglary Deputy Middleton saw the suspect jumping out
of a window of the residence. Again, he chased the suspect over several
fences and was able to set up a good perimeter where the suspect was
trapped and later located by Sheriff's canines.
In March of this year Deputy Middleton witnessed a traffic accident at the
Sutter Cemetery. When the occupants of the vehicle ran from the scene,
Deputy Middleton chased and was able to pull one of them off a fence.
The suspect had a gun in his waistband and Deputy Middleton fought with
the suspect and gained control of the gun and was able to detain the
suspect until several other Deputies and agencies arrived. A hatchet
was also later found on the suspect, who is a high ranking member of
an Asian gang.
And finally on October 10, 2009 Deputy Middleton while writing reports at
the Lincoln Elementary School, heard a loud explosion. He went to
investigate the explosion and saw a vehicle that crashed and was on
its side. The vehicle was on fire and the driver was unable to get
out of the vehicle on his own. Deputy Middleton was able to pull the
victim out of the vehicle and less than a minute later the gas tank
exploded and the vehicle was completely destroyed. To this date
Deputy Middleton has not lost a foot pursuit. He has one of the
highest DUI arrest records in the Department.
Prior to becoming a deputy, Deputy Middleton served honorably with the
US Army infantry. He has four children, two daughters and two sons.