A police sergeant who lost his legs in a high-speed hit-and-run on I-270 is determined to return to work
BETHESDA, Md. - Prosecutors say 36-year-old Montgomery County Police Sergeant Patrick Kepp was targeted on I-270 by a 19-year-old driver who was known to provoke officers into chasing him.
The county police chief and officials said earlier that on Oct. 18 morning, the suspected teen driver hit 110 mph and was also swerving and driving recklessly.
"Everything slows down. It wasn’t long that I went from the collision to where I ended up on the side of the road," Kepp recalled. "I remember realizing something was wrong with my right leg. When I came to final rest, I had some choice words for myself."
The 36-year-old then says he radioed in that he had been struck.
Raphael Mayorga of Frederick is still behind bars, facing attempted first-degree and attempted second-degree murder charges, among others.
Kepp told FOX 5 that he previously arrested the 19-year-old in May. At the time, the teen was found to be going 136 mph in a 55 mph zone.
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Inside Walter Reed Hospital on Tuesday, Kepp told FOX 5 he had finished his shift but heard the radio calls for the green Dodge Challenger and knew the driver. He decided to help.
That's when he was struck on I-270, trying to put down stopsticks to stop the teen suspect.
He told FOX 5 he remembers everything, including tumbling to a stop in a sitting-up position.
He recalled his right leg being "traumatically amputated" at the scene.
The sergeant said he wasn’t ready to hear news about his left leg at Baltimore Shock Trauma until the end of the day, when a doctor confirmed the loss.
"He doesn’t sugarcoat it," Kepp said. "He came in and he told me exactly what had happened with my right leg, and then he told me that I’d lost my left leg before the knee also, and that was definitely the first, very, very emotional moment for me. To know that now I have no legs. It was tough."
When FOX 5 asked about the suspect in this case having a history of baiting officers, Keep said, "I’m not going to go, into, you know the past cases, or anything about this one, since it’s a pending case, but, you know I think it’s just frustrating that it’s someone that’s a known person that’s out there that needs to be caught and hasn’t been."
Still, Kepp said he "absolutely" wants to go back to work.
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"I want to get back to officiating football more than I want to get back to work, but If I’m doing that, I kind of have to be back at work," he said. "The two are going to go hand-in-hand but yea, I’ll be back doing what I was doing – traffic enforcement."
Kepp also works as a Division 1 football referee. He says it’s his immediate family, football family, police family, and all the community support that’s pushing him through rehab. He hopes people who hear his story will help encourage others to keep going.
Congressman David Trone’s Office helped secure a waiver so that Sgt. Kepp can be treated at Walter Reed – known as one of the best in amputation surgery and rehabilitation.
A trial is expected to begin for Mayorga in April.