Medal Recipient Search
Bryant E. Gladney, Boone County Fire Protection District
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
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.
Blaize A. Madrid-Evans, Independence Police Department
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
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.
Bryan Yarbrough, nominated by Bolivar City Fire Department
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On the night of November 19, 2021, Bryan Yarbrough was driving back to a hospital, where his fiancé had just delivered a baby hours earlier, when he noticed the roof of a house was on fire. Because of the late hour and because there were cars in the driveway, he stopped and knocked on the door. There was no response, but he could hear animals inside so he opened the unlocked door. While looking for the animals, he found two adults who were asleep in bed. He woke them and then helped get them and their pets out of the house and called 911. After everyone was out of the residence the fire grew considerably and firefighters battling the blaze had to exit the structure because of concern that the roof would collapse. Uninterested in any recognition, Mr. Yarbrough left the scene to return to the hospital. He was later recognized by the City of Bolivar with a “Bryan Yarbrough Day” proclamation from the mayor.
Joshua James-Troutt and Travis Terry, nominated by Callaway County Sheriff’s Office
2021 Class
Awarded on: 09/07/2022
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On the morning of October 17, 2021, Callaway County Sheriff’s Deputy John Nielsen responded to a call for a rollover crash in the area of U.S. Highway 54 and State Highway J. As he approached the intersection, Deputy Nielsen was waved over by two stopped motorists. They pointed to the crash scene and then to a man 200 yards away who was walking directly into traffic on westbound Highway 54. Deputy Nielsen watched as the man was almost hit by a tractor trailer. Deputy Nielsen drove to the man’s location with his emergency lights activated, stopped, and instructed him to place his hands on his patrol vehicle’s bumper. The man, who was about 6-foot-5 and weighed over 200 pounds, called for the deputy to shoot him, refused to comply, and walked back into traffic. Deputy Nielsen attempted to restrain the man, but he resisted and eventually wound up on top of the deputy’s chest by the side of the highway. With the deputy pinned to the ground and the wind knocked out of him, the suicidal man tried to get the deputy’s gun from his holster. At this point, two other motorists arrived on the scene. Joshua James-Troutt was driving westbound Highway 54 and pulled over when he saw the suspect resisting the deputy. Travis Terry had been driving on eastbound Highway 54 when he stopped and crossed the eastbound and westbound traffic lanes to assist. James-Troutt stated he heard Terry say, “He’s going for his gun.” At that point both men grabbed hold of the suspect and together, with great effort, managed to pull him off Deputy Nielsen. This allowed Deputy Nielsen to get to his knees long enough to get his Taser and stun the suspect, who then, finally, placed his hands behind his back and was handcuffed. With a suicidal man struggling to get a deputy sheriff’s gun along a busy highway, Joshua James-Troutt and Travis Terry bravely put their own safety at risk to assist Sheriff's Deputy Nielsen in taking the man into custody.
Ryan W. Broeker, Devin R. Kitrel and Andrew C. Mattaline, Chesterfield Police Department
2020 Class
Awarded on: 09/01/2021
Medal of Valor
Early on the morning of Sept. 23, 2020, Chesterfield Police Officers Broeker, Kitrel and Mattaline were working the midnight shift to investigate a rash of auto break-ins as part of a plainclothes, undercover assignment. At about 2:45 a.m., they responded to a call for a vehicle that had struck a tree at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was extremely damaged, with the front end crushed in. As the officers approached the vehicle, they noticed the glow of fire beneath the car. They attempted to enter the vehicle, but the heavy damage prevented entry. The driver had been killed on impact. Additional officers arrived on the scene and they were able to get the car open and see an injured passenger, who was conscious but trapped – severely entangled in the wiring of the engine compartment of the mangled vehicle. Fire quickly fully engulfed the engine and passenger compartments. With no fire crews on scene, immediate action was required to save the victim’s life. Officers Broeker, Kitrel and Mattaline ignored the danger to themselves and amidst the fire, smoke and heat, worked together to cut the victim out of the wiring and debris. Officer Broeker used a fire extinguisher as the fire encroached farther, then assisted Officers Kitrel and Mattaline in pulling the victim from the burning wreckage. Moments after the victim had been freed, there was an explosion inside the car. The officers moved the victim farther away from the vehicle until medical help could arrive. Uniformed officers had spotted the vehicle numerous times traveling recklessly and at extreme speeds in the area. Despite the danger to themselves, and overcoming smoke, heat and fire, officers Broeker, Kitrel and Mattaline’s brave and decisive action likely saved the victim’s life. (Officer Kitrel is now an officer with the St. Peters Police Department.)
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.)