News

February Hit of the Month 2023: Kentucky State Police [KY]

July 5, 2023

By: Zach Madden

Hit of the Month: February

The winners and Nominees for Stop Stick’s Hit of the Month for February 2023.
“Hit of the Month” is Stop Stick, Ltd.’s program to recognize truly outstanding performance results coming from the successful deployment of Stop Stick® Tire Deflation Device in ending pursuits. Every month hundreds of reports are received from across the country documenting successful deployments of Stop Sticks®. These reports detail stories of exceptional police work and proper deployment of the Stop Stick® Tire Deflation Device to bring pursuits to an end safely. Below are the departments that were nominated from the hundreds of submissions, and the ones who have been selected as the “Hit of the Month”.

Winner:

MIDWEST

Kentucky State Police
Bowling Green, Kentucky

# of tires deflated: 2 (R_Front R_Rear)
Pursuit Speed: 81-90 MPH
Time of Pursuit: 14 Minutes
Miles Traveled after deployment: 1
Target Vehicle Make: 2020 Dodge Hellcat Charger
Deploying Officer(s): Trooper Bo Hubbard

Trooper Bo Hubbard of the Kentucky State Police earned our nomination for February’s Hit of the Month.

Trooper Hubbard’s Stop Stick® deployment resulted in the recovery of a stolen vehicle and the capture of an individual involved in a recent car dealership heist.

A dealership in Somerset Kentucky was the target of a high-profile vehicle theft. Multiple individuals gained access to the lot and vehicle keys after breaking into the dealership late one evening. The suspects made off with 6 Dodge Challenger Hellcats taken directly from the dealership’s lot.

About an hour after the incident Kentucky State Police in Adair County located four of the stolen Hellcats heading west on Cumberland Parkway traveling just under 100 MPH.

As troopers caught up to the stolen pack of cars they attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the suspects refused to comply with the trooper’s flashing lights and attempted to lose troopers by accelerating to 180 MPH bringing the pursuit to very dangerous speeds. The suspects would eventually outpace the pursuing troopers causing them to lose visual on the stolen vehicles.

As the pack of cars continued to travel westbound on the highway Trooper Hubbard was able to set up Stop Sticks ahead of the fleeing vehicles, and successfully disabled one of the vehicles. The driver, a 19-year-old from Alabama, attempted to ditch the vehicle and flee on foot into a nearby tree line, where he was located, and taken into custody without any further incident.

As of March 1 five of the six stolen vehicles have been recovered.

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Nominees

WEST

Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office & Blaine Police Department
Bellingham, Washington
Blaine, Washington

# of tires deflated: 4
Pursuit Speed: 61-70 MPH
Time of Pursuit: 15Minutes
Miles Traveled after deployment: Less then 1 Mile
Target Vehicle Make: 2012 Acura MDX
Deploying Officer: Deputy d. Shelton & Officer Jeremiah Leland

Deputy D. Shelton (Whatcom Co. Sheriff’s Office) & Officer Jeremiah Leland (Blaine Police Department) co-deployment on an individual accused of drunk driving and fleeing the scene of an accident earned our nomination for February’s Hit of the Month consideration.

Deputies from the Whatcom Co. Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a hit-and-run incident at 2:30 am February 13^th. A witness in the area was able to give responding deputies a detailed description of the suspect’s vehicle and the direction they took off in.

Whatcom Co. Sheriff Deputies shortly after located a vehicle matching the witness’s description traveling with their headlights off, Deputies followed the vehicle as it sped off hitting speeds of 100MPH. The driver’s impairment was very apparent and deputies attempted to perform a traffic stop on the vehicle to put an end to their reckless behavior. The suspect vehicle failed to yield to the deputy’s orders and continued to accelerate to 110 MPH.

As Deputies continued to pursue the suspect Blaine Police Officer Jeremiah Leland provided assistance by deploying Stop Sticks out ahead of the pursuit disabling the vehicle’s front tires, which brought the suspect’s speed down but didn’t stop them from continuing the pursuit. (NOTE: Officer Leland had just completed his Stop Stick Refreshment Training Prior to this deployment)

A short distance down the road WSCO Deputy Shelton deployed a second set of Stop Sticks, as the suspect vehicle began to approach Deputy Shelton’s position they reportedly attempted to swerve the vehicle towards the deputy and his vehicle but ultimately ended up hitting the second set of Stop Sticks flattening the remaining rear tires on the vehicle.

Having no tires left the suspect stopped the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot only to be apprehended a short distance from where the car was left.

The Whatcom Co. Sheriff’s Office and Blaine Police Department earned February’s nomination for their cooperation and communication in successfully deploying Stop Stick resulting in the disablement of the suspect’s vehicle and prompt capture. It should be noted that This pursuit was one of 3 that were taking place at the same time lending credence to the Whatcom Sheriff’s Office’s ability to control, communicate and conduct a successful pursuit resulting in the safe interdepartmental intervention and termination of pursuits in their region.

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SOUTH

Lewisville Police Department
Lewisville, Texas

# of tires deflated: 4
Pursuit Speed: 120+ MPH
Time of Pursuit: 108 Minutes
Miles Traveled after deployment: 1
Target Vehicle Make: 2013 Dodge Charger
Deploying Officer: JM Reid

Officers were dispatched to call reporting of a possible catalytic converter theft. The witness told police they heard cutting noises and after looking out their window they saw a dark-colored car drive off with a loud exhaust.

Lewisville Officers set up a perimeter patrol eventually locating a Dodge Charger that matched the witness’s description, as officers attempted to stop the vehicle it began to drive away at a high rate of speed, causing officers to initiate a pursuit.

Officer Reid was patrolling south of where the suspect’s vehicle was located fleeing and turned his vehicle around to put himself in position to assist with the pursuit. Parking his patrol vehicle so it blocked the exit to the highway, Officer Ried then to the back of his vehicle to retrieve his Stop Sticks and deployed them across the Highway ahead of the pursuit.

As the suspect approached Officer Ried’s location, pursuing officers advised that the suspect vehicle was traveling in the middle lanes, blacked out (no lights), and was traveling at over 120 MPH. Officer Ried saw the vehicle approaching and pulled Stop Sticks into the pathway of the suspect vehicle striking all 4 tires. The vehicle continued for a mile until it disabled itself near a Harley-Davidson dealership. As the pursuing officers arrived on the scene they saw 3 individuals bail from the vehicle, one of which was immediately captured, the other two suspects were located after assistance from another nearby agency.

All 3 suspects were charged with theft of 20 catalytic converters as well as evading arrest.

EAST

Milford Police Department
Milford, Delaware

# of tires deflated: 4
Pursuit Speed: 81-90 MPH
Time of Pursuit: 24 Minutes
Miles Traveled after deployment: Less than 1 mile
Target Vehicle Make: 1999 Honda Accord
Deploying Officer: PFC. Bradley Dryden

Officers with the Milford Police Department were responding to shots fired call at a local market. Officers on the scene were able to get a good description of the suspect vehicle from witnesses, and the market’s surveillance system.

The Suspect was spotted in another area of the city shortly after, in the same location where another call of shots fired had taken place earlier that week.

The suspect immediately fled from officers after they attempted to conduct a traffic stop leading officers through multiple local towns racing between 80-90 MPH as they attempted to make their way back towards the city. Officer Dryden was given the approval to deploy Stop Sticks once he was able to position himself out ahead of the pursuit at a safe location.

After locating the perfect location to execute a safe deployment Officer Dryden made his deployment, shortly after the suspect’s vehicle approached his position and hit all 3 of Officer Dryden’s sleeved Stop Sticks causing all of the vehicle’s tires to go flat, and disabling the vehicle. The two suspects in the vehicle were arrested without further incident as a direct result of the use of Stop Stick.

To register for Stop Stick® Hit of the Month, please submit a Deployment Report using the Link: https://stopstick.com/deployment-report/

You can be considered for Video of the year by uploading Dashcam, or Bodycam footage after submitting your Deployment Report.

If you know an officer who should be nominated for Hit of the Month please submit a pursuit report: https://stopstick.com/deployment-report/