On Monday, September 12, 2022, Charles County Sheriff’s Police Officer First Class (PFC) Jonathan Kelly was awarded the Maryland Sheriff’s Association’s Medal of Honor.
The award was presented by the President of the Maryland Sheriff’s Association, Sheriff Mike Lewis (Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office), Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor, Boyd Rutherford, Sheriff Troy Berry, and President of the Maryland Chief’s of Police Association, Chief Melissa Hyatt (Baltimore County Police Department). This highest award is presented to an officer who, in a life-threatening situation, displayed exceptional courage, intelligence, alertness and presence of mind.
This award usually involves a single event where the nominee’s life was placed in danger while either saving a life or apprehending a dangerous felon. The actions PFC Kelly took are as follows.
On May 17, 2021, while officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant, two Charles County Sheriff’s officers were shot as they entered the home of the wanted man. One officer was able to escape, while the other officer retreated to an upstairs bedroom and exited the house out of a second-story window, dropping into the yard of the residence.
PFC Kelly, who was outside at the time and in a position of cover, left his position to help the injured officer. After dragging the officer to safety, PFC Kelly applied a tourniquet to the officer’s leg upon seeing the gunshot wound. Due to the nature of his injuries, officers were not able to physically get the injured officer inside a patrol car so PFC Kelly placed the officer on the hood of another officer’s vehicle and laid on top of him to keep him safe and secure as they drove to an ambulance which was waiting in a safe location nearby.
PFC Kelly’s actions and decisions made during this dangerous and stressful incident stabilized the officer’s injuries and facilitated his transfer to medical personnel as quickly as possible. For these life-saving efforts, he was awarded the Maryland Sheriff’s Association’s Medal of Honor Award.
