Four college football players in New Hampshire have been recognized for coming to the aid of a state trooper who had been assaulted by a drunk driver.
According to Fosters.com, University of New Hampshire football players Noah Robison, Ismail Asongwed, Quinlen Dean and Isiah Perkins were driving through Durham, NH when they came across a few cars pulled to the side of the road.
“I was looking at it and it was weird,” Robison said. “I saw people outside the car. As we got closer we saw it was a cop and she was doing a DUI test, I found out later. The guy turned around and punched her in the face. She kind of stumbled a little bit. She didn’t fall to the ground. Then she turned and he took off.”
Realizing that trooper Michelle Montville had been assaulted, the students quickly turned the vehicle around to go to her aid.
“I didn’t even believe what I saw at first,” Robison said. “Did that really just happen? I saw him take off and she was running after him, but we could tell she was hurting. Immediately it was, ‘we’ve got to turn around and see if she’s alright and see if we can help her out.’ By the time we turned around and got to her, he was already all the way in the woods. We asked if she was OK and if there was anything we could do. Since we were the only people around she said what we could do was write our statements on what we saw. It was crazy.”
While the suspect got away, he was apprehended later in the day after making arrangements to surrender through his attorney. He has since been charged with felony escape, assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and driving while intoxicated along with other charges.
Interestingly, the players didn’t tell anyone about the incident.
“You know what?’, asked UNH Chief of Police Paul Dean, ‘they didn’t tell anybody. We learned this from the state police. We have such a great relationship with them. They called and said, ‘We want you to know about this.’ These people just did their job and went on their way. They weren’t looking for credit. They weren’t looking for any type of praise. They just went and did it. That’s an example. That’s what coach Mac puts out every single day over there.”
Several staff members of the University expressed their pride in the four student athletes.
“Our guys did the right things, made a great choice,” said UNH head football coach Sean McDonnell. “Like I told the state police person that called me about it, it’s what they learn on and off the field, not just here but from high school, and I think it’s from their upbringing, their moms and dads. I think people taught them the right things. There was a police officer who was in harm’s way and they did the right thing and stopped. It’s a great thing.”
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