Kittanning trooper honored for drugged, drunken-driving arrests
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The Kittanning state police station’s Trooper of the Year has prevented numerous tragedies on the roads in his part of the Alle-Kiski Valley, his supervisors said.
Trooper Nick Elliott, of Butler, helped arrest about 100 people for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol last year.
“That’s 100 potential disasters averted,” station commander Lt. Eric Simko said. And it impacts hundreds of people, he said.
“The arrested person gets to go home. Maybe someone gets to talk to them and say, ‘Hey. You’ve been arrested. This the time to get your act together.’ We don’t know the outcome always,” Simko said. “But it’s safe to say Elliott has changed lives.”
Elliott said he wanted to be a state trooper for as long as he can remember.
“All I want to do is help people,” he said.
He thanked his fellow troopers and supervisors.
Simko said Elliott made nearly nearly 70 driving while impaired arrests himself. He assisted other troopers to make more than 30 others.
Capt. Steve Ignatz, who commands Troop D of which Kittanning station is part, said he received reports each morning from across the troop’s coverage area.
“Nick’s name is listed there after every night shift … doing something for his community,” he said. “We are very proud of him.”
Ignatz said police don’t always know what they prevent when they arrest a drunk or impaired driver.
“But when you take as many drunk and impaired drivers off the road as Nick does, he is preventing a lot of families from having a tragedy,” Ignatz said.
Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton said her family feels safer on the roads because of Elliott. She said he helps the DA’s office on prosecutions.
“He is always willing to go the extra mile to help our office out,” she said.
The award is sponsored by Armstrong County Memorial Hospital. Hospital President and CEO John Lewis praised Elliott’s contributions. Some people forget that troopers and police are often the first to respond in a health crisis. Elliott further adds a “calming influence” when he takes suspected impaired drivers and others to the hospital for tests, Lewis said.
Elliott normally worked the night shift but was pulled from the shift for court cases and duties as the troop’s firearm’s instructor.
Elliott has been a trooper for three years. Before that, he was a state liquor control officer.
Elliott and his wife, Brittany, live in the Butler area.