DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) Quick work and thinking by Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies protected a family of pedestrians from getting hit by a driver in a stolen vehicle at a grocery store.

affiliate KDVR spoke exclusively with them about their heroic actions after reuniting with the family they saved. Deputies Trent Hoffman and Connor Lacey face new challenges every day at work.

“I don’t know what I’m going to run into,” said Lacey. “Who I’m going to find.”

It was what he and Hoffman found on routine patrol on Feb. 2 at a busy King Soopers on Highlands Ranch Parkway and South University Boulevard.

Lacey said, “We got a notification that there was a found stolen vehicle through our camera system.”

Deputies turned on their emergency lights in an attempt to stop the vehicle. Dash and body camera video shows the man driving the stolen car reversing at a high speed toward a group of pedestrians walking through the parking lot.

“It was a mother and two children. At which point I drove in front of the vehicle causing the vehicle to crash into me,” said Lacey.

“The weather was really nice that day which was great except it invited a lot of people in the area,” Hoffman said. “Unfortunately, if they (the suspects) weren’t taken into custody quickly, I do think that could have escalated really quick.”

It was bravery and a split-second decision for the new hire Lacey, who had only been employed with the department for five months. He’s still in the process of training.

“This is probably the most intense situation I’ve ever been in,” he said.

“They did an outstanding job; they saved lives that day,” said Sheriff Darren Weekly. “The guys are true heroes.”

After seeing the video of the scary encounter posted online, the family sent an email to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, hoping to meet their heroes face to face. The reunion was made possible just days after the close call.

“I know I made eye contact with you when I pointed over that something was happening,” said the mother, Cherish Hood. “You just turned your car in front of us, so thank you because they’re my whole world.“

The deputies risked their lives to save others, proving all heroes don’t have to wear capes.

“By nature, we were at the right place at the right time; we prevented that from happening,” Lacey said. “I’m very thankful that we were.”

No one was hurt in the situation. The driver and passenger were both taken into custody without incident.

According to a spokesperson with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the driver, Joseph Blodgett, 29, from Denver, faces charges of reckless endangerment, motor vehicle theft, eluding, shoplifting, drug possession and driving without a valid license.

The passenger, Amanda Conklin, 39, from Littleton, who had a stolen Colorado driver’s license, faces charges related to motor vehicle, identity theft and criminal possession of an ID document.