Positivity: Honoring Three Virginia State Troopers
All for “extraordinary acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty”:
3 state troopers honored for valor
Awards are for actions in which injured officer captured suspect and two were rescued from cars
BY BILL WASSON, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
May 19, 2006Three Virginia state troopers have received the Department of State Police’s highest award for valor.
Col. W. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of state police, and state Secretary of Public Safety John W. Marshall presented the Award of Honor to the troopers at a ceremony Wednesday.
The Award of Honor is given for an “extraordinary act of valor,” which is “above and beyond the call of duty.”
Receiving the award were:
- Trooper Robert S. Bowers Jr. of Area 26/Hampton, who, despite being shot twice at point-blank range, managed to wound and capture the fleeing suspect who shot him.
- Trooper Jason R. Hypes of Area 44/Caroline County, rescued a fellow trooper from his burning police cruiser after the trooper crashed as he and Hypes were responding to a call for assistance from the Caroline Sheriff’s Office.
- Trooper Marcus C. Jones of Area 34/Southampton County, was traveling off-duty with his family when he rescued a passenger from a burning vehicle that had crashed on Interstate 95 in Hanover County. Jones removed the passenger’s burning clothes and administered first aid.
