Hit of the Month: September

The winners and Nominees for Stop Stick’s Hit of the Month for September 2022.
“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

Hinsdale Police Department
Hinsdale, Illinois

• # of tires deflated: 3(R_Front,  L_Front, R_Rear)
• Pursuit Speed: 51-60 MPH
• Time of Pursuit:  9 Minutes
• Miles Traveled after deployment: 7
• Target Vehicle Make: 2020 Dodge Charger
• Deploying Officer(s): Seargent Thomas Krefft

Sergeant Thomas Krefft has earned our nomination for September’s Hit of the Month.

His deployment helped bring 3 men involved in the death of a 12-year-old boy into custody.

A pursuit was initiated after Chicago Police received a call stating that 2 men had opened fire from an alleyway at 5 individuals fatally striking the 12-year-old. Chicago Police were already in the area working a carjacking mission when they saw a black car fleeing the scene. CPD initiated a pursuit and followed the vehicle as long as they could, but would stop chasing when it became too dangerous to continue. A DHS Helicopter then picked up the vehicle and continued to track the suspects from the air. The vehicle was tracked to Hinsdale, where Hinsdale Police were notified and able to deploy Stop Sticks and disable the fleeing suspect’s vehicle, and capture all 3 suspects.

Seargent Kreft’s deployment lead to the ending of a dangerous pursuit involving 2 violent criminals, and 1 getaway driver, his actions and direct involvement in this pursuit made the difference in preventing 3 individuals from escaping justice.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/12-year-old-boy-in-critical-condition-after-shooting-in-the-heart-of-chicago/

Nominees

WEST

Casa Grande Police Deparment
Casa Grande, Arizona

• # of tires deflated: 2
• Pursuit Speed: 71-80 MPH
• Time of Pursuit: 36
• Miles Traveled after deployment: 20+
• Target Vehicle Make: Hyundai Genesis
• Deploying Officer: Jacob Martinez

Officer Jacob Martinez responded to a call for an agency to assist with a pursuit in progress involving the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were in pursuit of a vehicle driving recklessly and at speeds of 120+ MPH. Officer Martinez was directed to an exit ramp ahead of the incoming pursuit by dispatch and deployed his Stop Sticks across the road. Dispatch stayed in contact with Officer Martinez to let him know that the suspect vehicle was getting off at the exit he’d positioned himself at, as the vehicle took the exit Officer Martinez pulled his Stop Sticks in front of the vehicle successfully disabling the front tires. The suspects continued to flee for 20+ miles after hitting Stop Sticks, eventually surrendering to the pursuing Sheriff Deputies.

EAST

Tiverton Police Department
Tiverton, Rhode Island

• # of tires deflated: 3
• Pursuit Speed: 31-40 MPH
• Time of Pursuit: 100 Minutes
• Miles Traveled after deployment: 5
• Target Vehicle Make: 2008 Ford E250
• Deploying Officer: Seargeant Jason Kobelecki

On 9-1-2022 Officers of the Tiverton Police Department were called to assist with a pursuit involving a white Ford E250 that was reported stolen that same evening. After being identified by another area agency the suspected stolen vehicle decided to run initiating a multi-agency pursuit. Before Sgt. Kobelecki’s deployment a Portsmouth Police officer was able to deploy Stop Stick puncturing one of the vehicle’s tires, but not disabling the vehicle. As the pursuit approached the city of Tiverton the suspect chose to exit the highway, and that’s when Sgt. Kobelecki jumped into action, already set up at that highway exit the vehicle approached Sgt. Kobelecki’s location and ran directly over his pre-deployed Stop Sticks, flattening 2 more additional tires.  After hitting the second set of Stop Sticks the suspects dropped their speed from 40 mph to 20-25 mph, but still refused to stop for the pursuing officers. As the suspect continued to evade police they made several attempts to dissuade police from continuing the pursuit by making several U-turns, Driving into oncoming traffic, and eventually bailing out of the moving vehicle and taking off on foot. After setting up a perimeter it was Sgt. Kobelecki located the suspect hiding behind a building’s external Heating/ AC unit. The suspect was taken into custody without any further incident.

South

Venus Police Department
Venus, Texas

• # of tires deflated: 1
• Pursuit Speed: 111-120 MPH
• Time of Pursuit: 28Minutes
• Miles Traveled after deployment: 3
• Target Vehicle Make: 2003 Chevrolet Silverado
• Deploying Officer: T. Wells

Officer T. Wells of the Venus Police Department’s deployment of Stop Sticks lead to the capture of 4 suspects wanted by the ATF for the robbery of several gun stores around the Dallas Fort Worth area. The suspects had been caught on camera by several federally licensed gun dealers successfully breaking into 6 of the 8 stores within 4 days. According to Officer T. Wells’s deployment report, the suspect’s vehicle was spotted on 9/4/22 and initiated a pursuit involving the Fort Worth PD, Johnson County SO, Keene PD, Alvarado, and Venus Police Departments. Ultimately it would be Officer Wells’s Stop Stick Deployment during the pursuit that would bring the chase to a close, puncturing the driver’s side front tire and causing the suspects to give up 3 miles after the deployment. All four suspects were taken into custody without further incident.

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/home/pursuit-reporting