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IN MEMORY OF...
 Since its inception in 1949, the Nevada Highway
Patrol has had 5 Troopers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. They
are gone but not forgotten. This page is dedicated to their memory. |
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IN MEMORY OF Trp. Kara
Kelly-borgognone
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TROOPER
KARA KELLY-BORGOGNONE
End of Watch: Feb. 26, 2008 |
Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kara Kelly-Borgognone passed away on February 26, 2008. Trp. Kelly-Borgognone, 33, was involved in a motor vehicle accident on February 25, 2008.
Trp. Kelly-Borgognone was responding to assist in a bomb scare around 10 p.m. when her Ford Crown Victoria patrol car was struck at an intersection by a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle.
As an organ donor, she was kept on life support until doctors found suitable recipients and completed harvesting her organs. As a final act of selfless service, she wanted to help others live longer lives and better lives.
 Trp. Kelly-Borgognone had been a trooper for two years. She and her husband Dirk, have two young daughters, Blair, 13, and Ashlyn, 3. Her brother, Chris Kelly, is also a trooper with the NHP and is assigned to the Reno area.
Trp. Kelly-Borgognone was with the Parole and Probation Division for eight years prior to transferring to the Highway Patrol.
During her tenure with Parole and Probation she received the Medal of Valor. The Highway Patrol Division
awarded Trp. Kelly-Borgognone the Purple Heart posthumously.
And so, we honor a true hero, a woman of extraordinary character who dedicated her life to this community and made it a better place for all of us to live. To all who wear a badge, rededicate yourself to this profession, because it’s the right thing to do, because it’s the most important job you will ever do, and because it will honor Kara Kelly-Borgognone and all those who have fallen
in the line of duty.
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TROOPER CARLOS J. BORLAND
End of Watch: December 1st, 1993.
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THE NHP FAMILY MOURNS A HERO
by Trooper Greg Roehm
"6432... attempt to locate gas skip from Trinity truck stop." The
vehicle was described as a red Chevrolet Blazer with unknown license
plates traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 from Trinity. Carlos
Borland, in his first year as a trooper with the Nevada Highway
Patrol, acknowledged the ATL while working swing shift alone in the
Lovelock area.
This is how it all began in the early evening hours on November 30,
1993. Trooper Borland eventually located the suspect vehicle and at
8:54 p.m. advised Reno NHP communications that he would be stopping
the vehicle on I-80 eastbound at mile post 108, just east of
Lovelock. Trooper Borland was unaware that the driver of the suspect
vehicle was a fugitive who previously escaped from a North Carolina
prison. Only four days prior, he had allegedly murdered two people
in a robbery attempt in the state of Texas. Trooper Borland was also
unaware that the Blazer was stolen.
The driver, Michael Sonner, stole a set of Tennessee license plates
from another vehicle that closely matched the Blazer that Sonner had
previously stolen. The stolen license plates had yet to be entered
into NCIC. Prior to effecting the traffic stop, Trooper Borland
requested a registration check on the Tennessee plates; however, due
to the lack of an NCIC entry, he was not given any information that
would arouse additional suspicion.
Having only information that the vehicle was involved in a
misdemeanor theft of $22 worth of gasoline, Trooper Borland stopped
the stolen Blazer and approached the Driver. Sonner later told
investigators that he had already made the decision upon seeing the
red and blue lights that he would murder the trooper who approached
him. Shortly after Borland approached the fugitive, Sonner fired a
round from a .38 caliber revolver into Borland's head. Sonner sped
off as Trooper Borland fell on the highway. A tractor trailer driver
saw what had occurred and stopped to assist. Reno NHP communications
then heard a disturbing message from an unrecognizable voice, a
message that one of our own lay critically injured on the highway...
...Despite heroic attempts to save the life of the rookie trooper,
at 3:05 a.m. on December 1, 1993. Trooper Carlos J. Borland, at 25
years of age, became the fourth NHP trooper to die in the line of
duty...
...The most intensive manhunt in the history of the NHP followed the
shooting of Trooper Borland. The 25 hour search included officers
from nine law enforcement agencies, police dogs, SWAT teams and heat
sensitive helicopters...
...At approximately 10 p.m. the same day, Sonner was located and
confronted by officers, including SWAT team members of the Reno
Police Department... The brief standoff ended with the capture of
the man...
NEVADA TROOPER MAGAZINE: May 1994
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TROOPER DAN PETERSON
End of Watch: June 18, 1992.
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"OFFICER DOWN!"
By Trp. Roger Vind, Trp. Stewart Handte and Amy Bellfi
The evening of June 5 started out just like any other. By all
accounts, it was a routine shift for Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP)
troopers out on the road. Then, suddenly, an unfamiliar voice was
heard over the NHP frequency, adding solemn confirmation to the
message it had to send: "Officer down!"
As Reno dispatch frantically began a search for the injured trooper,
remaining on-duty troops attempted to gain their composure and
smooth the lumps from their throats as the came face to face with
the realization of the hazards of the job.
...Trooper Daniel Mark Peterson, in his fourth year with NHP, had
made a routine traffic stops on I-80 westbound near Sparks
Boulevard. He was approaching the driver's side of the violator's
vehicle when he was struck from behind by a Ford Bronco allegedly
operated by a drunken driver. Ironically, this driver had previous
law enforcement experience in California.
...Unknown to the troopers responding to Dan's location, the driver
and co-driver of the semi-tractor trailer that Dan had stopped
quickly reacted when they saw the trooper lying in the number two
travel lane. They split-up: One attended to Dan and protected him
from oncoming traffic, and the other ran to Dan's patrol unit,
immediately keyed the mike and provided the undesirable, yet
necessary, message, "Officer down!"
...It was learned that he vehicle that had struck Dan had stopped a
short distance east of the accident location. Troopers and
investigative officers from Sparks Police Department made contact
with the driver of the vehicle. This eventually lead to the arrest
of the driver for felony drunken driving.
Dan was rushed to the trauma unit at the Washoe Medical Center. He
underwent emergency surgery the following morning for treatment of
his injuries. Subsequently, he was transferred to the intensive care
unit where he spent almost two weeks putting up a brave and valiant
fight for his life. His body finally gave out on June 18. ...On
Monday, June 22, a memorial service was held at St. Theresa of the
Little Flower Church in Reno. ... Uniformed officers from New
Hampshire to California made up one of the largest honor guards for
a fallen officer ever witnessed by these authors.
NEVADA TROOPER MAGAZINE: September,1992
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TROOPER GARY GIFFORD
End of Watch: October 15, 1975. |
NHP'S FIRST DUTY RELATED DEATH
The death Tuesday of Nevada Highway Patrol officer Gary Vance
Gifford, 29 marks the first time in the 26 year history of the NHP
that an officer was killed in the line of duty.
Gifford first joined the NHP in July 1969 and had resigned for a
period of a few months earlier this year to take the post of
assistant chief of the Fallon Police Department. He was reinstated
to the patrol in July and was assigned to the Incline Village area
where he made his home.
He was patrolling the South Shore Lake Tahoe area Tuesday when he
made a routine traffic stop just west of the Cave Rock tunnel. He
was shot in the back of the head by a person he stopped, a suspect
in a Round Hill Mall Bank robbery.
A native of San Francisco, he served four years in the U.S. Navy
before joining the NHP. Gifford, who was divorced, is survived by a
son, James, 5: his parents Vance and Edith Gifford of Foster City,
Calif.; and a sister, Pamela Vogt of Fremont Calif.
Nevada Appeal: October 15, 1975
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TROOPER ROBERT McGUIRE
End of watch: May 15, 1961 |
POPULAR VEGAS LAWMAN DIES OF CAR INJURIES
A guy who wanted to be a policeman ever since he was a little boy
finished a dinner honoring his mother on Mother's Day, kissed his
wife, two daughters and mother goodbye, and went to work patrolling
Nevada's highways. Just 24 hours later, he wasn't a cop any more.
Robert McGuire was a policeman for nearly half of his 48 years
before he was fatally injured Sunday night chasing down a speeder.
He died Monday in the Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital as the
aftermath to the grinding collision with a pickup truck.
McGuire started his police career pounding a skid row beat in Los
Angeles before World War II. He later went to work for the Border
Patrol in Chula Vista, then entered the Marine Corps during World
War II, and returned to the border patrol after the war.
Then McGuire went to work for the police department in San
Bernardino, Calif., and stayed there for seven years. He came to Las
Vegas nine years age, worked for a few months as a guard for the
Atomic Energy Commission before spending two years with the Las
Vegas Police Department as a motorcycle patrolman. His last seven
years were with the Nevada Highway Patrol where he became an acting
sergeant late last year.
McGuire was a member of the Nevada Peace Officers Association and
was born in Minneapolis Minn., on August 9, 1912. He is survived by
his wife Louise; a son, Timothy Patrick, 6 mo.; and daughters
Shannon Gay,; Colleen Gayle, 5,...
Las Vegas Review Journal: May 16, 1961.
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Highway Patrol Chief |
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Tony Almaraz |
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