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From left, Omaha Police Lt. Tim Andersen, UNMC’s Rick Robinson with the Citizen Commendation award, Sgt. Harmon Moss, and Deputy Chief Mark Sundermeier. Robinson was presented with award for helping Moss on March 31 after the officer’s cruiser was struck by a drunk driver. |
No more than a block later, Robinson’s usual drive home took a different turn. Ahead in the rainy night he saw a police cruiser leaving the road. He realized the car that had just passed him had run into the police cruiser.
What Robinson did next earned him more attention than he’d hoped. He pulled off the road to see if the officer was safe. The left side of the cruiser, as well as the back, was smashed in. He helped the officer out of the passenger side door.
The officer appeared dazed and “out of it,” Robinson said.
The force of the crash was so great that the officer’s badge had come off his uniform. It was estimated the drunk driver was going about 70 to 80 miles per hour when he hit the cruiser, which was going about 20 miles per hour.
After Robinson made sure the officer was OK, he asked the officer if he could borrow his handcuffs to cuff the drunk driver who was staggering around on the road. The officer obliged.
Robinson proceeded to handcuff the 29-year-old man, sat him down off the side of the road, then went back to the police officer. The officer was trying to make a call to police dispatch with his radio, but was unable to get the words out. So Robinson called for help.
“I have a police officer down,” Robinson said into the police radio.
In less than three minutes, he looked up to see police cruisers “screaming in with lights flashing,” he said. Ten to 12 cruisers showed up, as well as two fire trucks and a rescue squad.
For his actions, Robinson received a Citizen Commendation award from the Omaha Police Department last week. For the first time since the accident, Robinson met with the officer he aided, Sgt. Harmon Moss, as well as Omaha Police Department Lt. Tim Andersen and Deputy Chief Mark Sundermeier.
The Durham Research Center conference room was filled with Robinson’s bosses, coworkers, family and friends, and reporters from three television stations, a radio station and a newspaper.
“The actions taken by Mr. Robinson are commendable and reassuring to myself and all the men and women of the police department,” Andersen said. “We’re glad Mr. Robinson knew how to use handcuffs.”
He said it was good to know that someone like Robinson would put himself into harm’s way to protect a police officer.
Moss thanked Robinson for helping him.
“It was nice to have someone willing to stop,” said Moss, who sustained severe whiplash from the accident, as well as minor injuries. “I was just fortunate. I was just lucky.”
Robinson said he was taken aback by all the attention.
“I would have taken just a ‘thank you.’ I didn’t expect anything like this,” he said. “It makes me feel good to meet him in person and to know he’s ok.”