It was bad luck for two purse snatchers when they encountered Keaweolu Villanueva and Evan Alfaro in separate incidents in November.

Both men, one a property manager and the other an aircraft mechanic, took action after hearing the cries of victims and chased down the thieves.

Police Chief Louis Kealoha awarded civilian Certificates of Merit to Villanueva and Alfaro on Wednesday during the Honolulu Police Department’s 2014 fourth-quarter awards ceremony at Mission Memorial Auditorium.

“It’s always important … to recognize heroism and selfless acts of bravery and courage,” Kealoha said. “This is speaking both to our civilians as well as our officers.”

Kealoha also recognized HPD Cpl. John “Zeuz” Zeuzheim as Employee of the Quarter for capturing Chauncey Ingraham, who is accused of stabbing a 23year-old woman in a Kailua home invasion Dec. 14. Ingraham was charged with seconddegree attempted murder.

Six SWAT officers were also awarded Bronze Medals of Valor, the third-highest award for valor, for persuading a man to surrender despite the man pointing a gun at the officers and telling them to shoot him in August.

The SWAT officers are Sgt. Wallace Aina III, Sgt. Paul Nobriga, Cpl. Pete Jones and officers Mitchell Cabral, Christopher Kornegay

“This potentially could have become suicide by cop,” Kealoha said. “Restraint, patience and, last but not least, the training that they do every day kept this incident from going bad.”

Kealoha said Villanueva and Alfaro, the two civilians, performed selfless acts of heroism in capturing the mugging suspects.

“They didn’t have to do that,” he said. “They took it upon themselves to ensure our neighbors, the victims, will be safe.”

Villanueva, who works for the firm that oversees the Safeway property in Kapahulu, said he was on the second floor of the store’s parking structure when he heard a woman screaming at about 3 p.m. Nov. 9. He looked across the parking lot and saw a man stomp on a woman and run away with her purse.

He ran down a parking ramp and cut off the attacker, who turned and ran toward Kapahulu Avenue. Villanueva said he pushed the man into a bush, and the man threw the purse away before continuing across Kapahulu toward Leonard’s Bakery.

“I wasn’t concerned about the purse; I wanted him,” Villanueva said.

The man, who had been carrying a metal pipe, swung it at Villanueva, and Villanueva slapped him, knocking him unconscious, he said. He said it’s not the first time he knocked a man unconscious; he has an eighth-degree black belt in karate and is a martial arts instructor.

Alfaro caught his purse snatcher while wearing slippers at 8:55 p.m. Nov. 2 in Waikiki.

The Los Angeles resident, who flew back to Hawaii to accept his award, said he was on the island for training as an aircraft mechanic.

He and his co-workers were walking on the street when a 20-year-old man ran past holding something, followed by a Japanese man and, finally, a Japanese woman screaming for her purse.

The group realized what happened and suggested that one co-worker, the only one wearing shoes, run after the suspect. Alfaro, however, said he couldn’t let his co-worker chase the man alone, and also ran after the suspect, eventually running past his co-worker.

The assailant ducked into a store on Kuhio Avenue, dropped the purse and calmly walked out as if nothing happened. When he glanced back, he saw Alfaro coming at him and raised his arms to surrender as Alfaro tackled him to the ground.

“It was so quick,” Alfaro said. “It was really like a reaction.”

Zeuzheim, the Employee of the Quarter, said he was heading to work Dec. 14 when he heard a partial license plate number in an attempted-murder case on his police radio. He was scanning passing cars and no-ticed an SUV on the road with the same number.

He followed the SUV into a gas station in Waimanalo and approached the vehicle on foot, but the suspect tried to drive toward him.

“Once he saw the gun in his face, he realized, ‘OK, I better stop,’” Zeuzheim said.

Two days later, Zeuzheim, an officer from the Windward district, used a cellphone signal to help track down and free a woman who had been kidnapped by a man threatening to kill her and commit suicide. That incident was also part of his award.

“Two in a row, bam, bam,” said Zeuzheim, 46. “It’s something I would do anyway, but it’s nice to get the recognition.”