March 14, 2009
Contct: Corinne Geller
corinne.geller@vsp.virginia.gov
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE TROOPER ACHIEVES
NATIONAL “2008 TROOPER OF THE YEAR” AWARD
Virginia State Police Trooper Justin T. Mahalik made Department history Friday night, March 13, 2009, for his valiant, life saving actions during a traffic stop in Northern Virginia last April. At its annual State and Provincial Police Conference in Alexandria, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) selected Trooper Mahalik as its “2008 IACP/Motorola Trooper of the Year.” He is the first trooper since the Virginia State Police was established 77 years ago to achieve such a prestigious honor.
Last month, Trooper Mahalik succeeded in being selected as the IACP/Motorola North-Atlantic Region’s “2008 Trooper of the Year.” Only four troopers from the United States and Canada earn such recognition each year by the IACP. The “IACP/Motorola Trooper of the Year” is selected from the four finalists submitted from their four regions by a committee of superintendents. This year’s other honorees included troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Illinois State Police and Washington State Patrol.
“Virginia’s state police troopers often perform courageous acts during the course of their daily patrols and investigations,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “To have the IACP present its highest state police honor to Trooper Mahalik for his heroic efforts is of tremendous pride for our Department. Justin is most deserving of this esteemed award, and we are grateful for his full recovery and commitment to return to the road.”
In the overnight hours of April 30, 2008, Trooper Mahalik was stopped out with a violator on Interstate 66 near Route 50 in Northern Virginia. While seated inside his patrol car with the violator, Trooper Mahalik’s vehicle was rear-ended by a drunken driver. The impact caused the patrol car to catch fire, which quickly spread through the vehicle.
Despite suffering spinal injuries and burns to his legs, Trooper Mahalik managed to escape his burning patrol car, get around to the passenger side, and pull the unconscious violator from the front seat. Moments later the patrol vehicle was engulfed in flames.
The drunk driver was not injured in the crash and the original violator suffered only minor injuries, thanks to the trooper’s quick and valiant actions. After surgery and several months of physical therapy, Trooper Mahalik returned to the road last fall.
Trooper Mahalik is the department’s second sworn member to achieve the IACP/Motorola North-Atlantic Region Trooper of the Year recognition. The first Virginia State Police trooper to ever receive the honor was Trooper R.S. “Bobby” Bowers Jr., who was shot twice while pursuing a suspect in 2005 in Hampton Roads.
