ST. GEORGE— Two Hurricane Police officers were chosen as Stop Stick’s “Hit of the Month” winners for May after successfully stopping a wrong-way driver on Interstate 15 using the company’s spike strips.
Hurricane Police Chief Lynn Excell shared the news with the Hurricane City Council during a public meeting Thursday.
“They did a really super good job that night in protecting the public,” he said.
The officers, Kyle Little and Ian Atkinson, who have both been on the force for 3-5 years, each received a pin and a “Hit of the Month” challenge coin from the company to honor them for successfully stopping an allegedly intoxicated wrong-way driver on May 29. Their story will also be featured on the Stop Stick website.
On the day of the incident, the officers were called to assist in stopping a minivan that was traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-15 at around 3 a.m.
The driver, later identified as Alicia Monroy, of Cedar City, had been driving in the wrong lane for around 40 miles before Little and Atkinson were able to deploy their Stop Sticks, which are used to pop tires in order to stop vehicles, just south of Exit 16 near Hurricane.
Read more: Driver travels 40 miles in wrong direction on I-15, runs another vehicle off the road
“Our officers responded appropriately and took the appropriate action based on the training they’ve received to bring that vehicle safely to a stop and also protect the motorists on the freeway,” Excell told St. George News. “It makes me very proud that they’re willing to stand up and do these kinds of things and utilize the training and the tools that we provide for them to protect the public.”
In addition to choosing the two officers as awardees, the company replaced both Stop Sticks used that night at no cost.
Stop Stick is a leading manufacturer of tire-deflation devices, and the brand is commonly used by law enforcement officers across the U.S., according to the company’s website. Over 250,000 police vehicles are equipped with the devices, and over the past 20 years, over 25,000 vehicle pursuits have been resolved by using them.
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