Watertown’s Brandon Henman honored for his heroic, life saving action

June 1, 2023
Mike Tanner

WATERTOWN, S.D.–A Watertown man was surprised Wednesday afternoon to receive a rare award handed out by the South Dakota Highway Patrol.

Brandon Henman was given the “Superintendent’s Performance Award” for the actions he took as a private citizen on November 19, 2022.

Brandon, who’s a youth hockey coach in Watertown, was on his way back from Sioux Falls when he encountered a drunk driver on Interstate 29.

After the drunk driver went into the ditch, Brandon detained him there, and called 911 until law enforcement could get there to arrest him.

Brandon told KWAT News why he took the action he did…..

Brandon says the driver’s actions made it very apparent that if he didn’t step in, there was an accident waiting to happen….

Highway Patrol Sergeant Jerry Kastein says handing out this award is something that rarely happens…

Kastein says the driver Henman detained that night had a blood-alcohol content of .196, which is more that double the legal limit of .08.

Many of Brandon’s hockey players, family and friends joined him for the award presentation at the Maas Ice Arena.