For Immediate Release

Contact: Daniel Wackershauser, Marketing Specialist
Phone: 608.822.2303
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: March 3, 2022

Russell honored for heroic work as state trooper

Briant Russell, a master trooper with the Wisconsin State Patrol and adjunct instructor for the Law Enforcement Academy at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, doesn’t consider himself a hero. Many people would disagree. Russell was honored by his Wisconsin State Patrol peers during their annual awards program recently when he was presented with the Meritorious Service Award for his act of bravery on Sept. 26, 2020.

On that date, Russell was dispatched to the scene of a crash on Highway 18 in Iowa County. The initial call was that of a driver driving the wrong way on the highway. “On the way, I was thinking, if I meet this vehicle do I take him head on?” said Russell. “Do I let him hit me to keep anyone else from getting hurt? In my mind I have it made up…that’s what I was preparing myself for. As I’m getting closer I could see the black smoke. Two vehicles had collided head-on in the passing lane of Highway 18.”

When Russell arrived, one vehicle was engulfed in flames and another vehicle, a severely-damaged SUV, contained a trapped driver. According to the State Patrol description, bystanders could not free the driver of the SUV because the airbags had deployed. The flames from the other vehicle were growing larger and hotter. The SUV was leaking flammable fluids nearby. Russell could feel the intense heat from the burning vehicle and knew something had to be done to save the driver trapped in the SUV. He returned to his cruiser and used his push bumper to move the SUV a safe distance from the burning vehicle.

“The doors (of the SUV) were locked and they wouldn’t unlock,” said Russell. “I broke the back window thinking I could reach in and manipulate the lock myself and I couldn’t so we tried breaking the front window and we still couldn’t get the doors unlocked. We couldn’t get her out. So, I turned around and pushed her out of there (with my cruiser) and we were able to get the door open.”

Once safe from the fire, Russell, an Iowa County deputy, and several bystanders forced the driver’s side door open and were able to help the person out of the SUV. The driver was taken to the hospital and treated for two broken ankles. Russell sustained minor injuries on his hands from broken glass.

The driver of the other vehicle, a good friend of Russell’s, died in the crash.

Upon presenting the award, the State Patrol noted, “by selflessly risking his own personal safety to help another, Trooper Briant Russell demonstrated high levels of bravery and dedication in the performance of his duties.”

“I feel like I couldn’t save Jerry so it’s hard for me to accept this award, but I understand,” said Russell. “Realistically in my mind it was part of my job. It was what I had to do. I think any other officer in the same situation would have done the same thing. I’m honored to get the award, but I don’t like the spotlight.”

Russell, a native of Boscobel, Wisconsin, worked for the Grant County Sheriff’s Department before joining the Wisconsin State Patrol in 1994. He began as an adjunct instructor, teaching radar as part of the Law Enforcement Academy at Southwest Tech in 2014.

| Southwest Wisconsin Technical College is one of 16 institutions that comprise the Wisconsin Technical College System. Southwest Tech offers more than 60 programs in a wide variety of disciplines. Courses are offered on campus, online and in a blended format. The college provides apprenticeship, certificate, technical diploma, and associate degree programs that respond to district workforce needs and prepare student for family-sustaining jobs and career advancement. |