Two retired NYPD officers are being praised for jumping into action.

“Once a cop, always a cop. It’s in your DNA,” said Chief John Chell of the NYPD. “They might have been retired that day, but they immediately put themselves on duty.”

The two men, Kenneth and Axel Dodson, are brothers. They were visiting family in Atlanta when they were in the right place at the right time. Their heroism helped to save a piece of history. 

The brothers chased and apprehended a 26-year-old woman who police say was trying to light on fire the house where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born.

“We chased the young lady down the street. At the time we saw her run across the street. She ran down the alleyway,” Kenneth Dodson said. “And that’s when my brother jumped out the car, chasing after her.”

“Soon as we got up there and, you know, yelled for her to get down, she pretty much knew she was caught. She didn’t really put up much resistance,” Axel Dodson said. “We got her on the ground. We didn’t have any handcuffs.”

The brothers held her down until Atlanta police arrived on the scene.

The NYPD is awarding them both with an “Outstanding Citizen Award.”

The King Center released a statement about the attempted fire, saying, “Fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, thanks to the brave intervention of good Samaritans and the quick response of law enforcement.”

The Dodsons said the chasedown was made all the more meaningful because they got to do it together. 

“It wasn’t just the adrenaline rush. It was doing it with my brother that I just, I loved, that I had my brother there, and we was doing this,” said Kenneth Dodson, who is older than Axel.

A proud moment for the NYPD to honor two of their own, who acted swiftly to preserve American history.

King's birth home is a historical landmark. It was acquired by the National Park Service from King’s family in 2018. It’s now a museum in Atlanta.

The alleged suspect was arrested and charged with arson, and is undergoing a psychological evaluation at a hospital.