Officer

California Highway Patrol

3/26/2020

Special Act Award (Gold)

On March 26, 2020 at 8:00 pm, California Highway Patrol Officer Verna Mondell was conducting a commercial vehicle strike force detail at the Interstate-80 eastbound Antelope Platform Scale Facility. While monitoring commercial traffic from inside the Antelope Platform Scale Facility, Officer Mondell heard a loud boom outside of the facility. Officer Mondell discovered a crash had occurred between a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer combination, 500 feet from the facility. She saw the pickup driver's door was open, with smoke filling the passenger compartment and a man slumped over in the front passenger seat. As the fire intensified, the flames began to transfer from the engine compartment to the passenger compartment near the driver's side door, preventing Officer Mondell from accessing the passenger through that door. Officer Mondell noticed the passenger’s window was either broken or missing as she approached the vehicle. She leaned completely into the vehicle and attempted to pull the unconscious passenger out. Fearing she had no time left, nor the ability to check what may be ensnaring his legs, Officer Mondell made one last attempt to remove the passenger. She grabbed the passenger's pants around the rear left waistband with her left hand, and with her right hand grabbed his right shoulder, while bracing her left hip against the pickup truck. Officer Mondell successfully pulled the passenger out of the vehicle through the window, and dragged the passenger 75 feet from the burning pickup truck. Officer Mondell stayed with the victim until paramedics arrived. With no regard for her own safety, Officer Mondell went above and beyond the call of duty. The State of California takes great pride in presenting the Gold Medal of Valor to California Highway Patrol Officer Verna Mondell.