Recognizing Four Officers for Helping a Fellow Veteran in Need

“We received a call for service at I-90 westbound near the I-77 southbound split—an extremely busy and unpredictable stretch of highway. The call was for a male who was trying to fix a flat tire on the side of the roadway and needed assistance.

We learned that the male is a war veteran and is suffering from PTSD. We also learned that the male was fearful of the police and had a firearm in his possession. Given the circumstances of the assignment, officers cautiously approached the scene.

Upon our arrival, we observed the male kneeling outside of his car, dangerously close to oncoming traffic. As officers approached, they could hear the male screaming and yelling for officers to go away and stay away from his car. The male was clearly upset but made no threats to harm officers or himself.

Officers learned that the male had no replacement tire, and the flattened tire was unfixable. To make matters worse, the male got up and continued trying to fix his damaged tire. He walked around on the berm and occasionally would walk dangerously close to the oncoming traffic.

We utilized the Fire Department to block two lanes of the highway to prevent the male—or us—from getting hit by a car. Communication with the male was extremely difficult. The male’s hearing had been damaged during his military service, and the sound of the passing traffic made it difficult to hear. The only way to talk to the male was to get close to him, which scared the male.

In spite of the obvious stress that the male was going through, he insisted that he was ok and stated he just wanted officers to leave. Given the predicament that the male was in on the highway—as well as his emotional state—leaving was not an option.

Patrol Officer Brendan Hunt started a conversation with the male about his time in the military and explained to the male that he too is an Army veteran. Once he did that, the trajectory of the conversation began to change. The male was far more receptive to Patrol Officer Hunt once he learned that Hunt was also in the military.

As if on cue, Officers Petitt (Army Ranger), D’Amico (Army), and Riolo (Marines) all arrived on the scene to assist. The other three officers joined in the conversation and identified themselves. This introduction had an enormous positive effect on the male’s demeanor. There was a clear commonality between the male and the four officers.

Everyone else on the scene—including me—moved away and let the four military veteran officers talk with the male. What happened next was one of the greatest experiences I have had in my career.

In a matter of minutes, the officers and the male engaged in what appeared to be cheerful, even celebratory, conversation. They laughed, they shook hands, and they told stories to one another that were so animated in their execution that I almost forgot that we were on a busy highway in the middle of the night in the middle of winter.

At one point, the officers and the male moved over onto the grassy area of the berm to do pushups. I later found out that the pushups were the consequence of a lost bet on military history. I was no longer looking at four officers de-escalating a male in crisis. I was now looking at five brothers reminiscing about their time in the service of our country.

After about thirty minutes, the once-incorrigible male who refused assistance happily got on the phone and called a friend to come pick him up. The car that we were once not allowed to go near was now ok to tow. Even the firearm that concerned us greatly was now handed over to us for safekeeping.

I am humbled by what I experienced that evening. I am proud to work with officers as fine as these four. It was the best CIT (crisis intervention) work I have ever seen. I respectfully request your consideration in regards to this nomination.”