NEWS RELEASE

For further information please contact: Captain J. T. "Tim" Hull
573-526-6115
Q6091
June 1, 2009

EMPHASIS: Trooper Receives State Employee Of The Month Award For Fiery Crash Rescue Caught On Dash Camera


On Wednesday May 27, 2009, Governor Jay Nixon presented the April 2009 State Employee of the Month award to Sergeant Dale O. Jinkens, Troop A, at a ceremony held in the Governor’s Office at the Capitol. Sergeant Jinkens was named the April 2009 State Employee of the Month for his courageous lifesaving actions on November 22, 2008, involving a serious traffic crash on Interstate 70 in Jackson County.

On November 22, 2008, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Sgt. Jinkens made a traffic stop on the exit ramp of Little Blue Parkway from Interstate 70, in Independence, MO. While talking to that driver, he witnessed a two-vehicle traffic crash at the bottom of the same exit. He immediately responded to the scene--a wall of flames--which was captured by his patrol car’s onboard video system. Sergeant Jinkens used his fire extinguisher to push back the flames, and then organized a group of motorists, who had stopped at the scene, to move a vehicle away from the center barrier. This allowed Sergeant Jinkens to pull the driver, who was on fire, from the vehicle. He extinguished the fire on the driver’s upper body and helped get her to safety. The driver Sergeant Jinkens rescued sustained serious injuries, but is expected to make a full recovery. The driver and a passenger in the second vehicle were not seriously injured.

The video can be viewed by going to the Patrol’s web site, (www.mshp.dps.mo.gov), and DVD copies of the video will be available to the media by contacting the Troop A Public Information and Education Officer/Sergeant Scott Meyer 816-622-0800.
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