Butler Police officer, Myles Bizub competes in the police vs. fireman meatball eating competition at Butler's Italian Fest Saturday. Bizub won the event defeating Butler Fire's Jim Kaufman. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle 08/28/21

Butler firefighters and police officers stuck their faces into a plate of meatballs to help a fellow first responder Saturday night.

The two departments engaged in a friendly competition in which the winner would get a $500 donation from the Butler Italian Festival.

In the end, the Butler police won the eating race, with officer Myles Bizub finishing his plate of 10 meatballs surprisingly swiftly.

Michael Dongilli, event spokesman for the Italian festival, said he thinks the $500 winnings of the department, and the $100 winnings of Bizub personally, would be given to Michael Sulerud, an officer who was stabbed last week while responding to an incident in Butler

Still, the competition was fierce, and the finalists had to eat 10 meatballs within two minutes.

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