A now-retired Gilbert police officer was surprised on Thursday after the 3-year-old boy he saved from a man holding him in a dangerous grip 15 years ago showed up at his retirement ceremony.

“It was just emotional to have that come full circle like that,” said David Bush.  

Ethan Wright is now 18 and a college student studying at a school in Idaho. He and his mom, Amy Wright, spoke at the retirement ceremony to thank Bush for saving his life at the Gilbert home just over 15 years ago.

“That was really awesome to me to see the guy that saved me because I had no idea who he was until just recently,” Ethan Wright said. 

“Rescuing Ethan, that whole scenario to me was the whole reason I wanted to be a police officer — it was to defend the people that can’t defend themselves,” Bush said. “That was the pure essence of police work for me.” 

Bush saved 3-year-old from man who was gripping him

On a summer evening in 2005, Bush was the first officer to arrive at a residence in response to a report of unknown trouble, which usually indicates it’s a serious situation, he said.

“Reporting parties cannot actually explain or have time to explain what’s going on,” Bush said. “It’s a very urgent type of call.” 

Bush walked up to the open door of the home near Cooper and Warner roads that night in June and was met by a young girl and boy standing outside.

“Hi, kids, where are your parents?” he recalled asking.

“Daddy is hurting baby,” one of the children said in response. 

Bush entered the two-story home and went straight to the master bedroom, where Patrick Larson, now 45, held Ethan Wright, who was 3, between his legs with his arm across the boy’s chest, Bush said.

Amy Wright was temporarily living in the home with her friend and friend’s husband, Larson, at the time with her two kids when Larson experienced a “manic episode,” she told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday.

She was pulling on Larson’s forearm and begging him to let go of her son, but Bush said the man had a “1,000-yard stare.”

Larson had schizoaffective disorder and had recently been released from the hospital, according to Amy Wright.

Bush identified himself and told Larson to let go of the boy.

In response, Larson pulled his arm tighter around the boy’s throat instead. Without hesitation, Bush said he hit Larson on the head with his elbow and fist to get him away from the boy in a matter of 15 seconds.

“I did what I did best and overwhelmed him,” said Bush, who said he was the subject matter expert for defensive tactics in Arizona. “He was a much larger man than me, he outweighed me by 100 pounds.”

Bush pinned the man’s arm across his chest, hit him a couple more times and used a Taser on him. He kept Larson at bay until a few more officers arrived and took him into custody. 

“He didn’t have backup or anything, he just went in and beat him up enough for me to pull Ethan out of his grasp,” Amy Wright said. 

Court documents said that Larson would have been convicted of kidnapping, but was instead sentenced to the Arizona State Hospital, a long-term inpatient psychiatric treatment facility for people with mental illnesses.

Bush says seeing Wright brought his career full circle

Bush never saw or talked to the Wrights again since that day. He said he had at one point wondered what became of the boy, so another Gilbert officer tracked the family down to surprise Bush at his retirement ceremony.

Bush said he choked up when he saw Wright walking toward him at the ceremony to commemorate his 33 years of service with the Gilbert Police Department. 

“He had just like, the biggest smile on his face, it was awesome to see how much that had affected him,” Ethan Wright said. 

Bush said he was happy to hear how Wright’s life turned out since the incident, especially because the officer had seen the negative impacts of domestic violence situations on children. 

Ethan Wright said he was the captain of his high school football and wrestling teams and is now attending college and working. 

Wright said that Bush saving his life in 2005 gave him the “chance to live and do things that … I would not be here to do.” 

Bush said he believes “divine intervention” played a role in their lives and that everything happens for a reason. Coincidentally, Ethan Wright’s high school football jersey number was 66 — the same as Bush’s badge number. 

“So many things are intertwining me and Ethan, it’s like eerie,” Bush said. 

Bush said seeing Wright at his retirement ceremony was the “cap” on his career.

Amy Wright said she enjoyed learning about other people Bush has helped in addition to their family over the course of his career. 

“We were just lucky that he was there for us, but he affected a lot of other people’s lives in a real positive way as well,” she said. 

After 33 years as a Gilbert police officer, Bush moved to Tennessee on Monday to retire with his family.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or on Twitter @Audreyj101.

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