Off-Duty Tiverton Cop Crawled Into Porch Collapse Rubble to Save a Teen — And Just Got Her Award
Most people, when a concrete structure collapses right in front of them, do one thing: get the hell away from it. Lieutenant Jessica Anderson of the Tiverton Police Department did the opposite. She crawled in.
And nearly a year later, she finally received the recognition she earned the hard way — the Life Saving Award, presented this past Sunday by the Tiverton PD. It was a long time coming for someone who had a truly unforgettable off-duty afternoon.
What Happened at the Portuguese American Club
It was a Saturday evening — June 7th, 2025, around 5:30 p.m. — when officers from the Portsmouth Police Department got the call nobody wants: structural collapse, multiple victims, unknown conditions.
The location was the Portuguese American Club at 35 Power Street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. A concrete landing — the kind you’d never think twice about stepping on — had detached from the building at the top of an exterior stairway on the north side. It collapsed downward and settled perpendicular to the ground, trapping two teenage girls beneath the wreckage.
Two kids. Buried under cement. On a regular Saturday.
The Victims
The girls were both from Portsmouth. A 15-year-old named Kelly Nevitt and a 17-year-old named Aaron Delgado. Both were pinned under the collapsed concrete landing.
Kelly Nevitt did not survive. She was 15 years old — a color guard performer, described by those who loved her as someone whose “smile and contagious laughter could brighten anyone’s day.” She was gone before help could save her.
Aaron Delgado, 17 and a junior at Portsmouth High School, was critically injured. She was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where she would undergo four surgeries and face a long, grueling recovery in the ICU. Three other bystanders were also injured in the collapse — injuries ranging from minor to serious.
It was, to put it plainly, a devastating scene. The kind of chaos where even seasoned responders can freeze up.
Enter the Off-Duty Tiverton Police Officer Hero Who Didn’t Flinch
Lieutenant Jessica Anderson of the Tiverton Police Department was not on the clock that day. She was not in uniform, not in a cruiser, not responding to a radio call. She was just a person who happened to be nearby when hell broke loose.
And she walked straight into it.
According to a statement from the Tiverton PD, Anderson was “thrust into a scene marked by devastation following a catastrophic porch collapse. Without hesitation, she stepped forward, assuming control in an environment filled with confusion, fear, and urgent need.”
While off-duty and waiting for Portsmouth Police and rescue personnel to arrive, Anderson immediately started triaging victims — assessing injuries, organizing care, and bringing some kind of structure to a scene that had none.
She Didn’t Wait for Permission
This is where it gets real. When Portsmouth first responders arrived, they didn’t push Anderson aside. They leaned on her.
“Fellow emergency personnel instinctively turned to her for guidance,” Tiverton PD noted. She coordinated the retrieval of stretchers and equipment, assisted with patient care, obtained vital signs, and helped administer life-saving medical interventions.
One police lieutenant, off-duty, essentially became the field commander of a multi-agency emergency response. That’s not luck. That’s the kind of person you are when the badge is in your pocket but the instinct is still running the show.
The Part That Really Gets You
Here’s what separates a good first responder from a truly great one: what they do when the technical stuff runs out.
Aaron Delgado was pinned under debris. Beside her, her 15-year-old friend Kelly Nevitt lay lifeless. Anderson crawled in and stayed there. She didn’t just do medical assessments and move on to the next task. She sat with the injured teenager in what must have been one of the most horrifying moments of that girl’s life.
She talked to her. She held her hand. She made sure Aaron was never alone.
In the Tiverton PD’s own words: “Lieutenant Anderson remained by her side despite the inherent dangers. She offered comfort, reassurance, and compassion — speaking gently and ensuring the young victim was never alone in her most vulnerable moment. In that space between fear and hope, Lieutenant Anderson became a steady voice of strength.”
That’s not in any training manual. That’s just who she is.
A Life Saved. A Family Spared Another Loss.
Aaron Delgado survived. She faced a brutal road — four surgeries, weeks in the ICU, a recovery process that tested everyone who loved her. But she made it.
“Through her decisive actions, calm professionalism, and deeply compassionate care, Lieutenant Anderson directly contributed to saving a life,” the department said.
The collapse also seriously injured three other people — a 19-year-old from Little Compton, a 49-year-old woman from Indiana, and a 46-year-old Portsmouth man. Anderson helped triage all of them.
The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into whether criminal factors were involved in the collapse.
The Award, Almost a Year Later
This past Sunday, nearly a full year after that chaotic June afternoon, the Tiverton Police Department made it official. Lieutenant Jessica Anderson was presented with the Life Saving Award — the department’s formal recognition that she did something extraordinary that day. Not just competent. Not just professional. Extraordinary.
The award wasn’t handed out quietly. The department issued a full statement, leaving no ambiguity about what they think of their lieutenant: “Acts of heroism are not always defined by dramatic gestures, but often by quiet courage, empathy, and an unwavering commitment to others. Lieutenant Anderson exemplified all of these qualities. Her response transcended training — it reflected character, humanity, and an unshakable sense of duty.”
They didn’t just give her an award. They described exactly who she is.
“Her conduct stands as a powerful reflection of the values of the Tiverton Police Department — service, integrity, and excellence.”
That’s a department that knows what it has in its ranks.
What This Story Says About Off-Duty Heroes
There’s a version of this story where Jessica Anderson drives past on her way home that day. Where she tells herself it’s not her call, not her jurisdiction, not her problem. Plenty of people would have. No one would have blamed her.
She didn’t do that.
Being a cop — a real one — isn’t a 9-to-5. It doesn’t clock out. The Tiverton police officer hero in this story wasn’t on duty when she crawled into that rubble and held a teenager’s hand while her friend lay dead inches away. But the training, the instinct, the commitment to other people — that was all still very much on.
We talk a lot about police and community trust, about what makes a department worthy of the badge it wears. Sometimes it’s policy. Sometimes it’s leadership. But a lot of the time, it’s moments like this one — the ones nobody planned for, the ones where a person has every reason to stay back, and instead they go in.
Kelly Nevitt didn’t make it home that day, and that’s a loss that Portsmouth and the whole South Coast region will carry. She deserved better than a crumbling concrete stairway on a Saturday afternoon. Her family deserved better.
But Aaron Delgado is alive. And the Tiverton Police Department is right to name exactly who helped make that happen.
About Lieutenant Jessica Anderson
Lieutenant Jessica Anderson serves with the Tiverton Police Department in Tiverton, Rhode Island. The June 7th, 2025 incident at the Portuguese American Club in Portsmouth remains under investigation by the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office.
The Life Saving Award is among the highest recognitions a law enforcement officer can receive — given specifically for actions that directly preserved a human life in the line of service. In this case, those actions happened on a day off, at a scene she didn’t have to stop for, for people she didn’t know.
That’s the definition of a local hero.
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