Gurnee honors five cops with village Purple Hearts
BY ED COLLINS Special to The News-Sun January 24, 2012 7:46PM
Gurnee officers receiving purple hearts Monday night during a ceremony at the Gurnee Village Board meeting for injuries they received while arresting criminals (from left) are crime prevention technician Tom Agos, sergeant Jim Lange, Officer Matt Baumann, Scott Kotrba and Brian Jacobson. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: February 26, 2012 8:03AM
The Gurnee Village Board and police department honored five heroic police officers Monday night, all of whom were injured in action while preserving the peace.
Mayor Kristina Kovarik and Police Chief Kevin Woodside presented Purple Heart certificates and service ribbons to Officer Thomas Agos, Sgt. James Lange, Officer Matthew Bauman, Officer Brian Jacobson and Officer Scott Kotrba while their beaming families and fellow officers looked on.
Woodside said the village’s Purple Heart Award is given to an employee who is seriously injured or killed in line of duty while attempting to pursue, or take into custody, a violent offender.
The Purple Heart awards have been made only twice, with the last being in 2003, Woodside said.
“Having reviewed the circumstances of the injuries sustained by these five officers, I have determined that they do meet the criterion for the Gurnee Police Department Purple Heart Award,” the chief indicated.
Kovarik said it is amazing what police officers will do to protect the public.
“I am in awe of the courage of these five officers. They never played it safe,” she said.
A brief synopsis of each officer’s actions:
◆ Agos responded to a domestic dispute with Officers Michael Young and Brian Carey in May 2004. A young female resident on Big Terra Lane told officers that her 21-year-old boyfriend had kicked in her front door and would not leave the premises. In arresting the offender, officers struggled with him and eventually took him into custody. Agos injured his right shoulder and could not move his arm. He underwent extensive hospital treatment and follow-up physical therapy, but still has not regained full motion in the shoulder.
◆ Lange and his police dog Hero responded to a domestic disturbance in a Gurnee Mills parking lot. He was advised that the offender had left in the victim’s vehicle at a high rate of speed. Lange spotted the vehicle zip by, clocking him with radar at 81 mph in a 45 mph zone. The driver struck two motorcycles and then crashed while turning from Stearns School Road onto Fuller Road. The driver exited the vehicle and ran into a wooded lot. The offender ignored Lange’s order to stop, so Lange released the dog that caught up with the offender.The suspect was finally subdued. During the fight, Lange suffered injuries to his neck and jaw that required surgery and took him four years to recover.
◆ Bauman was injured while on foot patrol at Gurnee Mills when he observed mall security dealing with a belligerent subject who had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. In escorting the subject outside the mall he bolted, but was quickly caught when other officers arrived at the scene. In the fracas, Bauman injured his right knee, disabling him from duty for two months.
◆ Jacobson responded to a domestic battery complaint and upon his arrival noticed a male suspect screaming profanities and pounding on an apartment door. Jacobson tried to quiet the man, but he turned violent while resisting arrest. With backup, the suspect was arrested and handcuffed, but Jacobson was injured when shoved into a brick wall. He required six surgeries and three years to recuperate from his injuries.
◆ Kotrba, who responded to a theft at a local hardware store, chased a suspect into a wooded area along the Des Plaines River. However, in placing him under arrest, Kotrba injured his shoulder requiring significant medical and rehabilitation treatments while on medical leave.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment