OHP troopers receive Purple Heart awards
Two Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers shot during a gunfight with a fleeing suspect, a trooper injured after his plane crashed and another struck by an out-ofcontrol SUV on an icy road were among those honored Thursday during a ceremony.
Troopers Dennis Dickens, Jason Richardson, Steven Johnson, Ryan Smith and Chris Bunch all received the patrol’s Purple Heart Award during the ceremony for the serious injuries they incurred while on duty.
“This is not getting a bloody nose from a suspect. These are not getting cut on a piece of barbedwire fence. These injuries here have been life threatening or they’ve taken a bullet for their partners or the citizens of the state of Oklahoma,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol Chief Ricky Adams said.
Each of the men and other troopers across the state deal with situations on a daily basis that most would never imagine encountering, Adams said.
“We walk into places
that most people are running away from. … In some cases (we) have to deal with monsters and we carry the scars of those home with us sometimes to our families,” he said.
Dickens, a pilot for the patrol, was injured after the plane he was flying crashed on July 26, 2013, while he was assisting in the search for a man who fled on foot from a vehicle
wreck.
Dickens was found in a field and pulled from the burning wreckage of the plane, suffering multiple fractures and other injuries that required several surgeries and about 21 months of recovery before he returned to duty.
On Jan. 19, 2016, Richardson was investigating wrecks along an icy stretch of Interstate 40 in Pottawatomie County. He was walking near a median cable barrier when the driver of a sport utility vehicle lost control and the SUV struck him.
Richardson suffered a broken hip and leg and went through nine months of rehabilitation before he was able to walk again.
Johnson was injured on Oct. 2, 2007, near Pennsylvania Avenue and NW 32. Johnson was riding a patrol motorcycle when he was struck by a sport utility vehicle. Johnson suffered a number of injuries that required a lengthy recovery before he could come back to duty.
On Jan. 25, 2014, Smith and Bunch were injured in a shootout with a man after a pursuit in the Oklahoma City metro area. The chase ended near Interstate 40 and Sunnylane Road in Del City, where Zachary J. Sumner, 34, of Midwest City, got out of his car and exchanged fire with the troopers.
Authorities said Smith was shot in the face and Bunch was shot in the thigh. Sumner was killed in the shootout.
After an investigation into the shooting was complete, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater commended the two men, saying they had “continued to perform their duties without regard for their own safety.”
Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael C. Thompson, who was recently picked by Gov. Mary Fallin to lead the Oklahoma National Guard, said he couldn’t think of a better way to spend his last full day with the agency than honoring the troopers who serve the citizens of Oklahoma.