MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
a division of the
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Troop E Headquarters - 4947 Highway 67 North - Poplar Bluff, MO 63901


News Release

For further information please contact: Sergeant Clark D. Parrott
(573) 840-9500, ext. 3532
E-31
September 16, 2016

EMPHASIS: Patrol To Award Honorary Trooper Certificates To Two Neelyville Men

Captain Jeffrey N. Vitale, commanding officer of Troop E, Poplar Bluff, announces two Neelyville, Missouri, men will receive the Patrol’s Honorary Trooper Certificate. The Honorary Trooper Certificate is presented to a non-employee who performs in an exemplary manner, and under dangerous conditions, to aid another. The men were nominated due to their actions at the scene of a motor vehicle crash in Butler County. The presentation will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 19, 2016, at Troop E Headquarters, in Poplar Bluff.

On June 12, 2016, troopers were called to a crash on U.S. Highway 67 at Missouri Highway 142 in Butler County. Initial information indicated a car, occupied by two people, had overturned and was engulfed in flames. The actions of two men saved the lives of the vehicle’s occupants. While investigating this traffic crash, two unidentified bystanders pointed out two people they said had helped to flip the vehicle upright and remove the injured and unconscious occupants from the burning vehicle. One of the men was identified as Rickey James Spargo, of Neelyville, Missouri. Mr. Spargo said the vehicle had passed his vehicle and quickly went out of sight. He said the vehicle was driving very fast and erratically. He then drove up on the vehicle, which had flipped onto its side and had already began to burn. Mr. Spargo said that he and another man worked together and flipped the vehicle upright before pulling the occupants out just moments before the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The second gentleman was identified as Ronald Dean Chapman, also of Neelyville, Missouri. Mr. Chapman retrieved a tow strap from his personal vehicle, and met Mr. Spargo at the burning vehicle. Mr. Chapman said they worked together attaching the tow strap to the burning vehicle and Mr. Spargo’s personal vehicle. With the use of Mr. Spargo’s personal vehicle, the men were able to upright the burning vehicle. Both of the vehicle’s occupants were found to be injured and unresponsive. Mr. Chapman said the fire began to grow as they attempted to extinguish the flames. They were able to suppress the flames well enough to access both occupants and pull them from the burning vehicle. Mr. Chapman said the vehicle became engulfed in flames immediately after they had removed both occupants.

“The actions of Mr. Spargo and Mr. Chapman were exemplary,” said Captain Vitale. “Both gentlemen upheld the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s motto of service and protection.”



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