Obama honors Warren patrolman

STAFF REPORT

news@vindy.com

WASHINGTON

Warren Patrol Officer Doug Hipple, who nearly died trying to save three women whose house was intentionally set on fire, was among 10 police officers in the country honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.

Hipple was honored Friday for courage above and beyond the call of duty for entering a burning house on Bonnie Brae Avenue Northeast on April 28, 2009, in an attempt to rescue the three women who lived inside.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, attended the ceremony, which honors officers receiving the TOP COPS Award given by the National Association of Police Organizations.

“Doug Hipple is one of our Valley’s finest and a genuine American hero,” Ryan said. “True courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the mastery of fear in the service of a greater good.

“Last April, Officer Hipple placed his fears aside as he unselfishly sought to save the lives of residents trapped inside a burning house — actions that endangered his very life.”

The TOP COPS program was established in 1994 to honor law enforcement officers across the country for actions above and beyond the call of duty.

TOP COPS awardees are nominated by fellow officers and are selected by a committee comprised of national law enforcement representatives who choose one TOP COPS case from each state and U.S. territory. The top 10 winners are flown to Washington, D.C., for the awards ceremony.

While on duty, Hipple was flagged down about 3:20 a.m. by a newspaper carrier who said there was a fire on the porch of a home just north of Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital.

Hipple went into the home with a caretaker for the three women inside and attempted to lead the women to safety.

The caretaker was able to escape, but Hipple and the three residents became disoriented, went back upstairs and were trapped. They were rescued by firefighters about 20 minutes later, all in critical condition.

Hipple, who suffered burns and smoke damage to his lungs, returned to light-duty work with the police department in early December but went back off duty Dec. 18 and remains off duty.

Two of the women injured in the fire, Sheree Egry, 53 and Donna Cassidy, 52, were eventually released from the hospital and placed in a new home. The third woman, Melissa Watson, 44, died from her injuries.

Because the fire was intentionally set, Watson’s death was ruled a homicide. No arrests have been made.