WILTON, N.Y. (AP) — Officers all over the country mourn whenever a fellow officer is lost but for the Massachusetts State Police the bond with Trooper Pratt was even more personal.
A veteran state trooper was hit by a vehicle and killed Wednesday when he got out of his cruiser to investigate a tractor-trailer parked in the median in front of the police station, authorities said.
The 30-year veteran, a father of three, was initially taken to nearby Saratoga Hospital, then airlifted to Albany Medical Center, where he died about three hours after the crash, officials said.
Trooper Pratt was one of three New York State Police members who served, along with three Massachusetts State Police troopers, as pallbearers at the funeral of retired Massachusetts State Police Staff Sergeant Richard Clemens.
Staff Sergeant Clemens was the trooper who served as a model for the Massachusetts trooper seen in Norman Rockwell’s iconic illustration “The Runaway.”
Massachusetts State Police say they are “grateful for his service to the public, and for his friendship to our department.”
Trooper Pratt had served with the New York State Police for 29 years and was a veteran of the United States Air Force. He is survived by his daughter, two sons, and fiancée
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)