Oakland honors SF officer for interrupting armed robbery attempt

Off. Riley Bandy of the San Francisco Police Department (center) after receiving an award on Sept. 2 at SFPD headquarters for foiling an armed robbery while off-duty in Oakland during the summer. With him are Assistant Chief David Downing of the Oakland Police Department (left) and the SFPD's acting chief, Toney Chaplin less Off. Riley Bandy of the San Francisco Police Department (center) after receiving an award on Sept. 2 at SFPD headquarters for foiling an armed robbery while off-duty in Oakland during the summer. With him are ... more Photo: San Francisco Police Department Photo: San Francisco Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland honors SF officer for interrupting armed robbery attempt 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco police officer who interrupted an off-hours jog to tackle an armed robber has received a medal — from his counterparts in Oakland, where the showdown took place.

The Oakland Police Department on Friday awarded its second highest honor, the Silver Star, to Officer Riley Bandy as a recognition of the incident at Lake Merritt on July 8.

As Bandy was jogging about 11 p.m., he heard and saw a male pointing what appeared to be a rifle while demanding someone’s cell phone. As he intervened, the assailant pointed the rifle at Bandy but ran off when Bandy identified himself loudly as a policeman. Bandy called 911 while chasing the assailant, jumping for cover whenever the person swung around with his weapon.

As the chase continued, Bandy tackled the would-be robber on Lakeshore Avenue after hearing him drop the weapon. Oakland police officers then arrived on the scene and arrested the boy.

The suspect was identified as a 16-year-old male. The rifle was a BB gun.

The award was presented in a ceremony at the San Francisco Police Department’s headquarters in Mission Bay. Acting Chief Toney Chaplin stood by while Bandy was praised “for his heroics in our city,” by Oakland’s Assistant Police Chief, David Downing.

Downing had another comment for the two-year veteran of the San Francisco force: “We are hiring.”

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron