Trooper swept away in flood remembered as devoted father
Many police officers seek to get off the midnight shift as soon as they can, but not state police Sgt. Brian Mohl.
“Mohl and I, we were midnight people,” said his friend and colleague, Sgt. Corey Craft. “It’s a special breed that are able to adapt and live a healthy life working the midnight shift. It’s a different animal and it’s not for everybody.”
Mohl, a 26-year veteran of the state police assigned to Troop L in Litchfield, did not mind the loneliness of patrolling quiet country roads in western Connecticut or the topsy-turvy lifestyle of being awake while the rest of the world slept. He enjoyed the tight camaraderie with others on the overnight shift and took pride in the midnight shift mantra: Don’t leave a mess for the morning crew to clean up. Most importantly, the schedule allowed him to attend his 14-year-old son’s soccer games.
Mohl, 50, was working an overnight shift early Thursday when his vehicle was swept away by a flash flood near Jack’s Bridge Road in Woodbury. At 3:30 a.m., he radioed to report that his cruiser was caught in rapidly rising floodwaters and that he needed help.
Other first responders pinged the sergeant’s phone to try to find him, but it wasn’t until after daybreak that searchers — including a helicopter and dive teams — recovered his cruiser, which was mostly submerged in the water.
They used debris to break into the vehicle, but it was empty, police said. After another hour of searching by ground and air, using drones and helicopters as the storm continued, they found Mohl floating farther down the Pomperaug River.
He died later that day at Yale New Haven Hospital; the medical examiner said his death was an accident caused by blunt trauma to the chest.
Mohl is survived by his wife, Susan, and three children, Brian Mohl II, age 14; Samantha Ganem, 24; Peter Ganem, 28; his brothers, Major George Mohl and Sgt. Scott Mohl, both of the New York State Police; his brother, Timmy; his two sisters, Frances and Laura; and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George and Frances Mohl, of New York.
Mohl’s friends and colleagues remembered him as a quick study who joined the state police at 23 and soon rose to the rank of sergeant.
“He was very bright,” said Col. Stavros Mellekas, commanding officer of the state police. “He got on very young, at the end of 1994, and he hit the road at the end of ’95. He was one of the first in his class to get promoted to sergeant.”
Mellekas described Mohl as a “personable guy” who was well-liked within the ranks.
Mohl arrived in Connecticut after a brief stint as a police office in Suffolk County, N.Y. He was a “skinny little guy” who immediately impressed everyone with his intelligence, said Gary Williams, a classmate of Mohl’s at the state police training academy.
At one point, an instructor at the academy cooked up a package of bacon, joking that he wanted Mohl to fatten up, Williams recalled.
Craft met Mohl when both were young troopers assigned to the midnight shift in the Southbury barracks.
“He was like a brother
to me,” Craft said, his voice breaking.
Theirs was a friendship built on good-natured ribbing and friendly competition. Craft never tired of reminding Mohl that he was his superior, having graduated from the training academy six months earlier than Mohl.
“Then the sergeant’s test came and he scored a couple of points higher than me, so he got promoted before me,” Craft recalled. “The shoe was on the other foot, and for the next 19 years I had to listen to him [saying] he was senior to me.”
Mohl was known for his dry wit and generous spirit. He would often send his friends texts with silly jokes and pictures, “just random stuff to break your stones,’’ Williams said.
Through the years, Mohl helped countless colleagues who were new to the job, struggling financially, dealing with marital problems or just in need of a friend.
“He would take guys in if they needed a place to stay,” Craft said. “He was a behindthe-scenes guy with a heart of gold. … The world lost a
good person.”
As a supervisor, he was there for his people.
“If you had something going on, you could always come to him for help,’’ Williams said.
Mohl became a father figure to some younger troopers. He was known for thoughtful gestures, quietly picking up the tab at restaurants, setting out a box of desserts at the barracks and sending everyone in his platoon a card at Christmas. For years, he hosted a big picnic “for anyone and everyone who wanted to come,’’ Williams said.
Above all, he was devoted to his family. His son Brian was a soccer standout and often traveled for camps and tournaments. Mohl “would
be right there with him, driving all over the tri-state region,’’ Williams said.
Mohl lived in Woodbury, about 3 miles from Jack’s Bridge Road, the rural byway situated near the convergence of the Pomperaug River and two smaller streams where his vehicle was overcome by the floodwaters.
“We are completely devastated,” said First Selectwoman Barbara Perkinson.
State Sen. Eric Berthel, whose district includes Woodbury, was also shaken by the tragedy.
“It’s heartbreaking to see a person who dedicated a large part of his life to protecting others and to public safety lose his life in the line of duty,” he said.
“The whole community is heartbroken. He was a good guy.”
Mohl had many opportunities to pursue promotions within the state police. He also talked about retiring and becoming a teacher, but he loved his job in Litchfield County, his colleagues said.
Craft is haunted by a recent conversation he had with Mohl.
“We have been talking for years about retiring,” Craft said. “We just had a conversation about it last week. He said, ‘I’m not ready to go. I still love this.’ ”
A wake for Sgt. Mohl will be held on Sept. 8 from noon to 6 p.m. at the Xfinity Theatre, 61 Savitt Way in Hartford. The funeral will be Sept. 9 at 11 a.m.