Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003 Page: 13A
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Carl M. Harrison Jr., who risked
his life to rescue seven people from a burning vehicle following a crash in
Hanover Township, has been named “Trooper of the Year” by the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, State Police Acting Commissioner Jeffrey B.
Miller announced Tuesday.
“This award recognizes Lt. Harrison’s supreme dedication to duty and
service, and it reflects well on the tradition of excellence of the
Pennsylvania State Police,” Miller said.
The IACP, based in Alexandria, Va., is the world’s oldest and largest
nonprofit membership organization of police executives, with 19,000 members in
more than 100 countries.
Harrison, 45, of York Springs, Adams County, received the award during an
IACP conference in Alexandria.
Harrison was returning to Harrisburg from a work-related meeting in
Lackawanna County on Oct. 24, 2001, when his vehicle came upon a crash
involving a passenger van and a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 in Hanover
Township.
The van’s engine was smoldering and the vehicle was resting on top of a
barrier wall.
Harrison ran to the van and gained access by breaking a rear window. After
removing three women and three children, Harrison learned that another woman
remained in the vehicle.
Although the van had filled with smoke, Harrison went back into the
vehicle, located a seriously injured 89-year-old woman who was pinned beneath
a seat, and removed her to safety. Moments later, the van exploded in flames.
The elderly woman later died of her injuries.
“Without the heroic efforts of Lt. Harrison, many or all of the occupants
of that van would have died,” Miller said.