State police honor three for service to others
Cecil A. Smith kicked a rock loose from a frozen roadside in the darkness of an early morning in January then used it to break a window on a burning car and saved the life of a barely conscious woman by pulling her from the wreckage. “My chest hurt so bad, I thought my heart was coming out,” Smith said Thursday after he was presented with a Troop Commanders Commendation Award by Lt. Harvey Cole, commander of the state police barracks in Uniontown.
Also honored were North Union Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Aaron Coleman and assistant chief James Vavrek, who sacrificed three days of work and wages to help state troopers sift through debris and rubble for evidence to help solve an arson and quadruple homicide.
“Without their help, we would have been there a week,” State Police Sgt. Charles Depp said.
True to the spirit of the award, Coleman and Vavrek abruptly left Thursday’s presentation ceremony when their pagers summoned them to an emergency.
Cole nominated the three men for the awards, which were signed by Troop B Commander Capt. Roger M. Waters.
The awards are presented to citizens who have done something extraordinary, Cole said.
“How many opportunities do we get to congratulate somebody worthy of recognition?” Cole asked. “We want to reward people.”
Smith, 51, of Menallen Township was an easy choice. Cole said the woman he rescued would have died if Smith had not intervened.
Shawna L. Jordan was driving on Dearth Road at 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 18 when she struck a cement abutment and her car ended up in a culvert in front of the Smith residence.
The crash awoke Smith’s wife Linda, who then woke up her husband.
When he got to the car, he saw fire burning its way through the dashboard and Jordan crumpled on the floor.
Smith said he kicked a rock loose from the frozen ground and used it to smash the car’s back window. Then he reached inside, unlocked the passenger-side door, yanked it open, wrapped Jordan in a blanket and carried her into the house while his wife called 9-1-1.
He did all this with a disability that sidelined him from work a number of years ago.
Smith said the car was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and the heat caused it to buckle into the culvert. “It doubled up in the heat,” he said.
He said if Linda wasn’t a light sleeper, the accident might have gone unnoticed until it would have been too late to save the driver.
“Putting yourself in harm’s way is not a common everyday deed,” Cole said.
Three months later on April 14, Coleman and Vavrek put in 12- to 16-hour days for three days, lending their expertise to state police as they searched for clues in the charred remains of a Kennedy Street Extension house where Larry Bobish, his wife, Joanna, their teen-age daughter Krystal and her unborn child died.
The Bobishes’ son, 12-year-old L.J. Bobish, was found outside of the house bleeding from a gunshot wound and a cut throat.
The ensuing investigation led police to reveal that the Bobishes had been shot before their home was set on fire and L.J. managed to escape before flames consumed the house.
Police have charged Mark Duane Edwards Jr., 19, of South Union Township with four counts of homicide, arson and related offenses. A preliminary hearing into the charges has been scheduled for next month.
Cole called Coleman’s and Vavrek’s efforts “above and beyond the call of duty.”
“They volunteer their time with a fire scene investigation,” Depp said.
“They put in 12 to 16 hours a day for three days. It was a tremendous amount of work.”
Cole also gave the firefighters a commendation for their entire department.