HAILING L.A.'S `TOP COP' : AREA OFFICER NAMED AMONG NATION'S BEST.

Byline: Jaxon Van Derbeken Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles police Officer Michael Grasso, on his way home one day last year, squinted into the setting sun and thought he might have seen something in Pacoima Wash.

He and his friend, Rick Monsour, took the time to look again. That second look saved two lives and led to Grasso being named one of the 10 ``Top Cops'' in the nation for 1995.

Grasso, who earlier this month won the Los Angeles Police Department's Medal of Valor for his action, will be honored next month as a ``Top Cop'' at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., by the National Association of Police Organizations, a lobbying organization for U.S. law enforcement officers.

``I can't wait to meet the rest of these guys,'' said the 38-year-old officer who saved 7-year-old Jordan Bastasin and a 20-year-old man from drowning in the Pacoima Wash in April 1995. ``Just to be honored along with those guys, I've read their stories, I was impressed.''

Grasso recalled Monday the April 1995 rescue of the boy and the man which started when Grasso, assigned to the Training Division, spotted something in the wash on his way home to Chatsworth. He now lives in Camarillo.

Grasso said he couldn't tell just what the object was because it was moving toward the setting sun.

He and his friend decided to make sure it wasn't someone in trouble.

When they peered over a bridge, they spotted a child who had gotten into the wash in Sylmar.

Later Grasso found that the boy was being swept along with another man, who jumped in to try to rescue him.

``I looked over the side, the boy was going right underneath the bridge,'' Grasso said, adding that he and his friend scrambled to find a vantage point for a rescue. ``The chase was on, we were trying to get in front of him and get into the wash,'' he said. They drove into San Fernando, but Grasso's access keys did not work there. Finally, they came to a spot where they could drive down into the wash.

But the van was nearly swept away in the 40 mph flow. ``The current picked up the whole van and slammed it into the wall inside the wash,'' Grasso recalled. ``The boy was there bouncing up and down. The water was just flowing out of his mouth,'' Grasso said. ``He was going into shock.''

The friend stayed in the van and Grasso decided he was going to go in and that is when he found the man holding onto the boy. ``I got both of them up out of the water,'' Grasso said, adding that all three were then swept away, heading straight for a network of tunnels - and the danger of being crushed by the force of the current.

Grasso found himself stretched across a raised portion of concrete, holding the boy on one side and the man on the other. ``I threw my body across it, and was able to hold on to both of them, keep them out of the water.''

That's when other officers and the Fire Department arrived, and all three ultimately were rescued.

Grasso, a 16-year veteran, will be honored Oct. 3 for his rescue efforts April 4, 1995.

Beth Weaver, spokeswoman for the organization sponsoring the ``Top Cops'' awards, said Grasso's award marks the third time the LAPD has been honored in the three years the awards have been held.

Officers Hong Kim and Don Lint were honored for their lifesaving efforts during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. Officers Gerald Ballesteros and Ray Mendoza were honored for courage during a shootout with gang members in September 1993 at Newton Division. Mendoza was seriously wounded in the ambush by gang members. One gang member was killed.

Weaver said her group solicits nominations from the United States and its territories every year and the candidates are reviewed, with one nomination per state. Then a committee selects 10 finalists.

``LAPD honored for three years - that's very impressive - it's kind of wild,'' Weaver said. ``Some of our people ask, `What, L.A. again?' It's great, and I think it speaks well about the LAPD.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Officer Michael Grasso holds onto a b oy during a rescue from a Pacoima wash.

(2 -- color) Officer Michael Grasso speaks to the media Monday after being honored by a nationwide police program.

(3) Officer Michael Grasso was selected Monday as one of 10 ``Top Cops'' in the nation for saving two people in April 1995.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News