It took just 11 years for a police officer to spiral from being hailed as a hero to branded as a suicidal drug addict.

Brian Vigil, 37, saved a man from a burning building in 1998 when he was a five-year veteran of the Española Police Department. The news story at the time said Vigil burned his legs when he entered the blazing home for mentally disabled people early one spring morning.

A letter of commendation said he was "a perfect example of the objectives and ideals of being a law-enforcement officer."

But in 2000, Vigil's law-enforcement career suffered a major setback when he was sentenced to probation for altering records in a drunken-driving case that involved a city officer.

A source who knows Vigil said after leaving the Española department following that debacle, Vigil worked for a number of years as a security guard in Los Alamos. He returned to police work with the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Department in April 2007.

Last year, Vigil was featured in a news story after he suffered a head injury from being attacked while on duty. Rio Arriba County Manager Lorenzo Valdez said Vigil had been on "light duty" in the office because of the injury. Valdez also said he had some suspicions about the nature of the attack, but would not elaborate.

On Monday, Vigil was apprehended by Santa Fe police after he allegedly robbed a pharmacy at gunpoint, then threatened suicide and asked for prescription painkillers during an armed standoff that lasted for hours.

Someone who answered the phone at the Vigil home in Española said the family did not want to comment.

Valdez said Vigil was likely to be placed on administrative leave pending the Santa Fe investigation.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.