BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police on Tuesday honored a Battle Creek police officer who pursued a suspect even after being shot at and temporarily deafened.
Officer Brad Gentry received a Medal of Honor at the association’s summer conference.
“Officer Gentry was awarded this medal for the traffic stop he made last year where the driver shot at Officer Gentry. Due to Officer Gentry’s quick thinking, training, and reflexes, he avoided being hit as the bullet barely missed his head,” the Battle Creek Police Department posted on its Facebook page.
On March 5, 2016, Gentry pulled a car over for speeding. Dashcam video shows that as Gentry greeted the driver, he pulled a handgun and fired a shot near Gentry’s head.
“I remember seeing the handgun coming up towards my face and hearing and feeling the shot,” Gentry recalled in an interview with 24 Hour News 8 later that month.
Gentry, who wasn’t actually hit, returned fire at the fleeing vehicle and then hurried back to his cruiser to give chase. Even though he had been deafened by the gunshot, he narrated the route of a high-speed pursuit over his radio until other officers could take over.
The suspect, Darriyone Clark-Brown, was arrested after a standoff at a house only about a mile from where the traffic stop happened. He was eventually sentenced to up to 52 years in prison.