Story Published:
Dec 25, 2009 at 7:57 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Dec 25, 2009 at 11:45 PM CDT
EUREKA, Mo.-- A corporal with the Missouri Highway Patrol was killed near St. Louis during a traffic stop on Christmas morning. The highway patrol says Cpl. Dennis Engelhard of Wildwood was hit while working another accident on I-44 in Eureka.
The accident happened around 10:30 Friday morning near the St. Louis suburb of Eureka, while Corporal Engelhard was assisting with an accident on I-44.
"He moved all the vehicles off to the shoulder, and was on the scene for about 40 minutes waiting on a tow truck to arrive to assist the people who were involved in that previous accident," sasy Sergeant Jeff Wilson.
The highway patrol says Corporal Engelhard got out and walked to the rear of his vehicle, where he was struck by a dark colored SUV. Officers on the scene went to Engelhard's aid, but he was pronounced dead minutes after arriving at the hospital.
Sergeant Al Nothum says, "Dennis was a great officer, a great trooper. He was a hard worker. He was a very quiet man."
Corporal Engelhard's colleagues won't stay quiet about this kind of tragedy happening all too often. "We have so many crashes that happen where we have emergency vehicles with their lights on, and people just seem to wait til they get up on them before they decide to break and slow down, and that's not what you're supposed to do. If you can see those lights a long ways away, that's when you slow down," Nothum says.
Prior to joining the highway patrol ten years ago, Corporal Engelhard worked as a flight paramedic for Cox Hospital in Springfield. In a 1999 story about air ambulance service in Springfield, Engelhard talked about how he and his colleagues didn't forget about patients once they were off the chopper.
"Every time we fly them in, we take out a piece of paper and write their name on it and check on them every couple of days and see how they're doing," Englehard said.
Engelhard, age 49, was a 10-year veteran of the highway patrol. It's unclear if the driver of the SUV that hit Engelhard will face charges.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon asked citizens of the state to pray for the trooper's family. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Corporal Dennis Engelhard," said Nixon. "Today, our state has lost one of its most dedicated law-enforcement officers, and Corporal Engelhard’s family has lost a beloved son and brother."
