Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘I just did my job’
Bella Vista’s Hearron discusses Officer of the Year honor
BELLA VISTA — John Hearron said he was just doing his job when he apprehended a pair of suspected criminals last summer.
But what the Bella Vista police officer really did was chase down and arrest two people now accused of murdering another police officer.
And for that Hearron has been named the 2021 Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for Benton County by the Arkansas attorney general’s office.
“I understand it was a big deal, but at the same time that’s my job,” Hearron said. “The other guys told me how proud of me they were. Personally, I don’t feel like I did enough to receive an award like this, or to even be nominated for something like this because it’s what I signed up for. It’s part of the job. I just did my job.”
Bella Vista Police Chief James Graves, whose nomination of Hearron for the award was the first time he had ever nominated one of his officers, said, “Our officers all do really good work, but these awards are usually for something above and beyond, a little outstanding. Based on Officer Hearron’s performance with (the situation involving) the tragic killing of a police officer I thought it warranted it.”
Hearron, who has served as a member of the Bella Vista Police Department for four years, was on patrol on June 26 when Pea Ridge police officer Kevin Apple was killed during a traffic stop at a gas station in Pea Ridge.
The two people now awaiting trial for that murder — Shawna Cash, of Pine Bluff, and Elija Andazola, of Bella Vista — fled to Bella Vista. The BVPD was alerted through radio communication that the two were on their way.
“We knew they were in the area,” Hearron said, “we just weren’t exactly sure where.”
Hearron said he was parking across from Walgreen’s when dispatch emailed a photo of the suspect’s vehicle.
“I pulled in and looked at my email and saw the picture of the vehicle,” he said. “I looked at the picture and as soon as I put my phone down, they crossed right in front of me.”
Hearron then found himself — for the first time — as the primary officer in a high-speed pursuit.
“I’d been secondary in a pursuit before, but there wasn’t a whole lot to that one,” he said. “We ended up losing sight of them in that one.”
This time would be different and, thanks to his academy training he was able to keep up with the suspects right up to the point when they wrecked their vehicle in a yard on Spanker Road.
“You learn how to drive in the academy,” he said. “They spend a whole week on training you how to keep control of your vehicle while driving at a higher speed.”
While officers in a pursuit always have the option of calling it off at any time, they also must consider the situation.
“Would we have caught these suspects later? Probably,” said Graves. “But it’s always dangerous later when you’re looking for capital murder suspects, especially when they know that the officer is actually dead. You know then that they’re going to be dangerous and hard to capture and they may hurt officers or innocent third parties later. So, taking them into custody really could have saved lives while trying to apprehend them later.”
But when pursuing capital murder suspects, he said, “We pretty much pursue them until we catch them.”
Hearron, who didn’t find out that Apple had died until after the suspects were apprehended, said, “If it was a minor offense, I would have terminated the pursuit before it even really started. But someone who has run over someone and is still trying to do whatever they can to get away … they don’t care who they hurt in order to get away. I felt, given the circumstances, that was someone who needed to be stopped.”
Graves said the situation Hearron found himself in is called a “low frequency, high risk” event because it is something that doesn’t happen that often but, when it does, carries with it a lot of risk.
“It’s not often that we pursue people, so you don’t do (pursuits) a lot,” he said. “They’re dangerous because they’re dangerous and you don’t do them a lot. But he handled it perfectly. There’s nothing he could have done better in that event to be honest.”
Hearron, who entered law enforcement after serving in the Marine Corps, which included a 2016 tour of duty in Iraq, credited his military training for helping him stay calm during the highrisk event.
“Your adrenaline gets up there, but I think being in the military helps me,” he said. “One thing you’re taught is how to use the radio. People commented that I was being calm, but I was a little nervous at a couple of points. But one thing you’re taught in the Marine Corps is that if you don’t speak clearly over the radio, you won’t get the help you need. So, before I get on the radio and give updates to my location, I try to calm down my voice so I can speak clearly on the radio.”
Graves, who said he listened to audio of the event and watched how it unfolded through Hearron’s dashboard camera, said the officer’s actions were exemplary.
“It’s really what we train them to do, but the manner in which he did it, his calmness and demeanor as he was calling out on the radio his pursuit, then when he gave foot pursuit after the suspect lost control of the vehicle … he really operated at a level above his tenure,” Graves said. “He was very professional, not emotional, and he operated in a very exemplary manner.”
He added, “He caught, singlehandedly, two capital murder suspects.”
When asked what it means to the department to have one of its officers be recognized with this award, Graves said, “It just shows the quality of officers we have here. I think any one of my officers would have acted similarly. It just shows the quality of officer he is. Obviously, he received good training, he’s received good training and mentorship here. It means a lot.”
Hearron said it made him feel good when he got the word from Graves that he’d won the award, but only after getting over the nervousness of receiving a call from his boss.
“It means a lot to me,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t even know he was nominating me. He just called me after he’d gotten the email back saying that I’d been selected. When Chief calls you you’re kind of … well, it’s not normal for Chief to be calling you, so it made me a little nervous at first. But it means a lot. I actually teared up a little bit when he told me. It’s not something I ever expected.”
One officer from each of the state’s 75 counties were given this award. Five regional winners were then selected with one officer from among the five being honored as the state’s top officer.
Hearron will receive his award as Benton County’s winner during the Officer of the Year Luncheon to be held Jan. 13, 2022, in Little Rock.
“I understand it was a big deal, but at the same time that’s my job. The other guys told me how proud of me they were. Personally, I don’t feel like I did enough to receive an award like this, or to even be nominated for something like this because it’s what I signed up for. It’s part of the job.” — John Hearron, Bella Vista police officer