Medal Recipient Search
Blaize A. Madrid-Evans, Independence Police Department
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2021
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
On the morning of September 15, 2021, Officer Madrid-Evans was one of four Independence Police officers who responded to a residence to check for a man wanted on an outstanding aggravated assault warrant. Officer Madrid-Evans had graduated from the police academy two months earlier and was still undergoing field training. As officers encountered the suspect in an open garage area, he quickly removed a handgun from his waistband as he spun around and fired at the closest officer, mortally wounding Officer Madrid-Evans. Another officer returned fire, killing the gunman. Officer Madrid-Evans was just 22 years old, but had proven himself to be a selfless individual, who was committed to helping others and carrying out the highest ideals that are embraced by law enforcement officers. He was an organ donor, and his donation helped sustain the lives of 75 people, including Springfield, Missouri, Police Officer Mark Priebe, who had been paralyzed in the line of duty in 2020, and received a life-saving kidney transplant.
Antonio A. Valentine, St. Louis County Police Department
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2021
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
On December 1, 2021, as part of a narcotics investigation, St. Louis County Police detectives attempted to stop a stolen vehicle in north St. Louis County. The driver fled at a high rate of speed. Officers were not in pursuit because of the speed at which the vehicle was traveling. Detective Valentine and his partner were responding to the area to assist fellow narcotics unit officers when their police vehicle was struck head-on by the fleeing vehicle as the suspect crossed the centerline into the wrong lane at a high rate of speed. The collision killed Detective Valentine, who had honorably served the department since 2007. Detective Valentine had devoted his entire adult life to public service. During more than two decades in the military, he had deployed to combat missions in Iraq and Kyrgyzstan. He had honorably served the St. Louis County Police Department for 14 years.
Bryant E. Gladney, Boone County Fire Protection District
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2021
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
Before dawn on December 22, 2021, Assistant Chief Gladney was overseeing the Boone County Fire Protection District’s response to a traffic crash on westbound Interstate 70. Because a box truck was on its side blocking the right lane and shoulder of the highway, Chief Gladney had activated his emergency warning equipment and had taken a blocking/warning position to the east of the crash scene. Before Chief Gladney could exit his vehicle, a tractor trailer traveling at a high rate of speed in the driving lane failed to slow down and struck Chief Gladney’s vehicle, causing catastrophic damage to the vehicle and killing Chief Gladney. Chief Gladney had spent a total of more than 36 years with the fire protection district and emergency medical services. He ran the district’s EMS bureau and training bureau, where he mentored the next generation of firefighters. He had responded to Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks as a member of Missouri Task Force 1, the state’s federal urban search and rescue team.
Robert C. Bridges, Springfield-Greene County Park Board
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2021
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
At about 10 p.m. on November 11, 2021, Park Ranger Bridges was on patrol and heard radio traffic indicating that Springfield Police officers were searching for an armed person who had caused a disturbance at a business. They had established a perimeter near Glenstone Ave. and Battlefield Road. Bridges, who as a park ranger, has jurisdiction across Greene County, went to the scene and was assigned to take a position on the perimeter. Ranger Bridges soon observed movement in the darkness near a retail business. As he drove toward the movement and illuminated the area with his spotlight, he observed a man who had his back to Ranger Bridges. The man quickly turned and fired ten shots through the front windshield of Ranger Bridges’ vehicle. One shot entered Ranger Bridges’ left wrist and exited through his elbow. Two shots went through his right forearm, breaking the ulna. Bridges exited his vehicle and rolled to the ground, attempting to take cover, but the gunman approached and shot him once through the right leg and twice in his left rib cage. His ballistic vest stopped the shots to his rib cage. The gunman then attempted to disarm Ranger Bridges, who, despite two broken arms and having been shot six times, rolled away to protect his gun and fought him off. Two Springfield police officers arrived on scene and were able to end the threat to Ranger Bridges. Since the attack, he has had multiple surgeries and will undergo additional surgeries in the future.
Colton J. Beck, Missouri State Highway Patrol
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2021
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
On the night of December 10, 2021, Trooper Beck attempted to conduct a traffic stop in Springfield, but the motorist fled and his vehicle became disabled. As Trooper Beck approached the driver’s door, the suspect fired a single shot from a shotgun through the driver door window. Although seriously wounded, Trooper Beck courageously returned fire. Trooper Beck was struck in the face, head, neck, and right shoulder, some of the pellets could never be removed. He was transported to a hospital for treatment, where he underwent emergency eye surgery. It was determined a shotgun pellet had penetrated his right eyeball, permanently blinding him in that eye. He later had to undergo surgery to remove the damaged right eye. Trooper Beck recuperated and returned to service with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Jason M. Weggemann and Ronald R. Burgess, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Medal of Valor
On March 21, 2020, Sergeant Weggemann was conducting traffic enforcement on I-44 in the Villa Ridge area. At about 9:30 p.m., he attempted to stop a vehicle driving in excess of 90 miles an hour. The driver ignored Sergeant Weggemann’s lights and sirens and refused to pull over. Deputy Sheriff Ronald Burgess quickly joined the pursuit. Ahead of the pursuit, another deputy sheriff deployed spike strips, which disabled the fleeing vehicle. The fleeing motorist then abruptly pulled into a gas station that was open for business. Deputies moved to block the vehicle from attempting to exit. Immediately upon stopping, the driver exited his vehicle and fired a handgun multiple times at Deputy Burgess, whose patrol car had yet to come to a complete stop. As Deputy Burgess took cover behind his dashboard, the gunman began firing at Sergeant Weggemann. With deputies under fire and customers and gas station employees endangered, Weggemann and Burgess were forced to return fire. Each was seriously wounded after being shot by the gunman but, despite their wounds, they were able to shoot the gunman and end the tremendous threat to everyone at the scene.
Michael J. Ottolini and Lee Alex Clawson, Jefferson City Police Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Medal of Valor
On the night of April 15, 2020, Jefferson City Police Department officers conducted an investigation into ongoing drive-by shootings into homes on the city’s west side. A suspect vehicle was identified and an officer attempted to make a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop and a pursuit began. After a nine-minute pursuit through several neighborhoods, the driver and a passenger fled the vehicle. While another officer pursued the driver, Sergeant Ottollini, who had joined the pursuit, and Officer Clawson, who had arrived on-scene to assist, pursued the passenger into a wooded area. It was dark and the area contained thick brush and downed trees. Early in the foot chase, Sergeant Ottolini saw the suspect reach into his waistband for what he believed was a weapon. Officer Clawson jumped over a chain-link fence and tackled the suspect to the ground. While struggling with the suspect, Officer Clawson was shot twice in the abdomen. Officer Clawson now tried to push away the gun, which he saw in the man’s right hand. He called out to Sergeant Ottolini, “he shot me.” As the gunman continued to fight Officer Clawson, Sergeant Ottolini, to protect Clawson from being shot again, pulled him away from the gunman and drew his service pistol. The gunman, still armed, and posing a threat to both officers, was shot by Sergeant Ottolini, ending the threat. He died at the scene. Officer Clawson was transported to a hospital. His ballistic vest had prevented one round from penetrating his body. The second round caused a laceration to his lower torso. After pursuing a gunman suspected of terrorizing a neighborhood and Officer Clawson being shot by the suspect, Clawson and Sergeant Ottolini displayed tremendous courage under duress in ending the threat to themselves and the community. (Lee Alex Clawson has been promoted to detective with Jefferson City Police.)
Heather M. Anderson, Springfield Police Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Medal of Valor
On the morning of June 9, 2020, a man acting erratically briefly entered Springfield Police Department headquarters, returned outside and urinated on the building. He then repeatedly drove through the building’s west parking lot. Officer Mark Priebe and Sergeant Anderson both went to the parking lot to investigate. Officer Priebe walked south and Sergeant Anderson walked north. At this point, the man, driving a white SUV, reentered the parking lot and drove in the direction of Officer Priebe at a high rate of speed. Officer Priebe motioned for the driver to stop and pull into a parking space. Instead, the driver immediately turned sharply, accelerated and headed straight for Officer Priebe. The officer attempted to move out of the vehicle’s path but he was stuck, run over, and pinned under the vehicle, which was now blocked by a bollard on a sidewalk. With Officer Priebe pinned underneath, the engine revving, and the driver appearing to be attempting to move the vehicle, Sergeant Anderson swiftly moved toward the driver side of the SUV, repeatedly calling for the driver to stop. When he did not, she fired her duty weapon, striking the driver in the upper arm. The driver stopped, put the vehicle in park, raised his hands in the air and surrendered to Sergeant Anderson. With Officer Priebe’s life in immediate peril, Sergeant Anderson took swift and decisive action to end the threat and save Priebe’s life. Officer Priebe, a 24-year police veteran was paralyzed, and while he spent months undergoing rehabilitation, he is confined to a wheelchair. The investigation revealed that the assailant had sent a text message the morning of the attack that he intended to “run a cop over.”
Jason A. Ashby, Missouri State Highway Patrol
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Medal of Valor
On the evening of July 24, 2020, Corporal Ashby was off duty and a passenger on a boat with four others on Lake of the Ozarks. As the boat traveled south near the 18-mile marker of the main channel just after midnight, it was struck on the port side by another boat in a major crash. Corporal Ashby was knocked unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he and the boat operator immediately went to assist the three other passengers, a mother, father and their 13-year-old daughter. The mother had been killed in the crash. A resident on shore flashed an exterior light. Corporal Ashby shouted for the person to call 911 and request three ambulances and a helicopter. Working in the darkness, Ashby found that the teenager was not breathing and had no pulse. He moved her to the rear bench of the boat and began CPR. At one point the patient had a weak pulse but it quickly faded. The boat operator was tending to the girl’s father, who had a weak pulse and shallow breathing. Corporal Ashby directed the operator to restart the boat and head for the shore. At the shore, Corporal Ashby carried the girl off the boat and continued to perform CPR on a dock for several more minutes. Eventually, the girl began breathing again. When EMS arrived, Corporal Ashby and an unidentified man carried the girl off the dock up a steep flight of stairs. EMS took over her care, and then flew her and her father to a hospital. Corporal Ashby was later transported to a hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. The girl spent time on a ventilator and her father required surgery, but they have each made remarkable recoveries. The operator of the other vessel was charged with boating while intoxicated. Corporal Ashby’s decisive action and relentless determination in an emergency situation, despite his own injuries, saved the young girl’s life.
John K. Gresco II, St. Charles County Police Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Medal of Valor
On Aug. 9, 2020, St. Charles County was inundated with four inches of rain in two hours. At about 1 a.m. Officer Gresco was dispatched to a report of a vehicle stuck in flood water on Pitman Road. Upon arrival, Officer Gresco found a different vehicle stuck in rapidly rising flood water. The driver was climbing out of his window to get onto the vehicle’s roof. Officer Gresco had grown up in the area and knew immediate action was required because, when it floods, the creek nearby routinely rises to 7 to 10 feet, with an unforgiving current. As the water rose above the level of the trunk, Officer Gresco quickly moved through the water to the vehicle, which was now being carried toward the rising creek, with the driver on the roof. Gresco knew if the vehicle reached the swift water of the creek, the driver’s chances of survival would be slim. Officer Gresco was clinging to a submerged guardrail, to avoid being swept away. With the vehicle floating in his direction and with the driver on the roof desperately calling for assistance, Gresco risked his own life and moved toward the vehicle. When the vehicle ran into some brush, Gresco convinced the victim to jump to him. Gresco grabbed the victim and then helped him maneuver through the flood water to safety. In the dark, in rising, swirling flood water and with no time to wait for rescue teams and equipment, Officer Gresco calmly and courageously risked his own life to take immediate action, saving a flooding victim about to be swept away.