Officer’s actions during shootout praised

June 18, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

A half-dozen awards at his side, wildlife officer Michael K. Neal tearfully embraced members of the West Memphis Police Department who credit him with stopping a police shootout that left two of their officers dead.

Neal received honors and commendations from state and law enforcement agencies Thursday, nearly a month after the May 20 shootout in West Memphis that killed Sgt. Brandon Paudert and Officer Bill Evans.

Authorities said Neal rammed his truck into a minivan driven by Jerry and Joseph Kane of Forest, Ohio, ending the standoff that began 90 minutes earlier after Paudert and Evans pulled over the Kanes on Interstate 40 in West Memphis. A photograph of Neal’s navy Chevrolet pickup showed a smashed-in headlight and more than a dozen bullet holes in the windshield.

Col. Mike Knoedl of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said he met with Neal hours after the standoff, hugging him and saying how proud he was.

“I will never forget the first words he spoke to me after arriving,” Knoedl recalled Thursday. “He looked down and said, ‘Colonel, I’m so sorry about the truck.’ I assured him that was not going to be a problem, and I felt a new truck was in order. I believe he earned it.”

According to police, the father and son opened fire with an AK-47 and a handgun on Paudert and Evans and drove off before backup police officers arrived. Police later tracked them to a Walmart in West Memphis, where Neal slammed his truck into their van. Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby and Deputy W.A. Wren were injured in the Walmart shootout, and Jerry and Joseph Kane were shot to death.

“I was put into a situation where I had to react and I had less than milliseconds to do it. It was all due to my training,” Neal said.

Sgt. Paudert was the son of West Memphis Police Chief Bob Paudert. Paudert and members of the department were in Little Rock on Thursday to thank Neal for his actions.

“There was no doubt there were many heroes on that particular day, but there was one hero that stood out to everyone and that was Michael Neal,” said Assistant Police Chief Mike Allen. “I can only say that we wouldn’t even want to imagine what would have occurred that particular day had Michael Neal not been in the area.”

It’s still not clear what led to the shootout. Jerry Kane had a long history of run-ins with the police and recently complained about being busted at a “Nazi checkpoint” near Carrizozo, N.M., where court records show he spent three days in jail before posting a $1,500 bond on charges of driving without a license and concealing his identity.

The investigation, conducted by Arkansas State Police and the FBI, is ongoing.