Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
| Carroll called professional, seasoned officer |
Trooper Ralph Carroll’s motorcycle is shown on the ground on U.S. 220 after it collided with a 2000 Honda Accord driven by Christopher Cunningham on Friday. Carroll died following the accident. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
| More Photos |
Sunday, June 28, 2009
By KIM BARTO - Bulletin Staff Writer
Coworkers and friends of a state trooper killed off-duty Friday in a motorcycle accident remembered him as a professional, seasoned law enforcement officer who loved riding his Harley Davidson.
Ralph William Carroll Sr., 59, of Stanleytown, died after he was involved in a two-vehicle accident shortly after 1 p.m. Friday near Dodge’s Store on U.S. 220 at Bassett Forks, aaccording to the Virginia State Police.
Carroll, a master trooper, was pronounced dead at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was airlifted following the accident, according to a Virginia State Police release.
Carroll had worked for the state police since 1975 and worked in Dinwiddie County for a few years before coming back to Henry County, said state police Sgt. Mike Phillippi, who had known Carroll since 1973.
“He was a good person to be around” and “had a real good personality,” Phillippi said.
“He wasn’t what you’d call a jokester, but he was a very pleasant person to be around,” Phillippi said of Carroll. “He was always somebody who wanted to help everybody out if he could.”
Phillippi said the 20 troopers who work in the local state police office are a close group. Grief counseling was held Saturday for Carroll’s coworkers.
According to a state release, a 2000 Honda Accord driven by Christopher A. Cunningham, 20, of Collinsville, was traveling north on U.S. 220. The car was in the center turn lane preparing to make a left turn into Dodge’s Store when it collided with Carroll’s southbound 1986 Harley Davidson motorcycle, the release said.
The motorcycle struck the passenger side of the vehicle, and Carroll was thrown from the motorcycle, the release said.
Phillippi did not go to the accident scene but said he was told “neither vehicle was going very fast” when they collided.
No charges had been filed as of Saturday, said Sgt. Robert Carpentieri, public affairs coordinator for the Salem District of the state police. Any charges will be the decision of the special prosecutor appointed to the case, he said.
Henry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Bushnell knew Carroll closely and said he recused himself from the investigation because it is “too close and too painful to think objectively.”
Bushnell said Pittsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney David Grimes has agreed to serve as special prosecutor in his stead, and Judge David Williams indicated he will sign the order.
Carroll was a 1968 Bassett High School graduate. “He was probably well-known by a good part of Henry County,” Phillippi said.
Carroll earned an associate degree in accounting at the National Business College in 1970, then started his law enforcement career with the Martinsville Police Department that October.
On his employment application, police Chief Mike Rogers said, Carroll was asked what prompted him to apply for the position. He wrote, “I have always respected a policeman, and I think I would be proud to serve my community as a policeman.”
With the State Police, Carroll was a firearms instructor and a driving instructor, and he served on the tactical field force for the state police. Phillippi said he was “very good” at his job.
Outside of work, Carroll was an avid motorcyclist and enjoyed hunting and remote control airplanes. He was a member of the Patrick Henry RC Club and Blue Ridge Cycle Club.
Martinsville Police Capt. Eddie Cassady met Carroll 29 years ago, when Cassady was a 15-year-old Explorer Scout with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Carroll was a local trooper.
They became close friends 10 or 12 years ago, Cassady said Saturday, adding that he counts Carroll among his best friends.
Professionally, Carroll was a “good officer. He took his job seriously with integrity and honesty. He was a professional, seasoned officer,” Cassady added.
Personally, “he was a good guy. He had a great sense of humor and he liked to live life to the fullest,” Cassady said.
He added that he and Carroll hunted and rode motorcycles and four-wheelers together. “Ralph had been riding a motorcycle for a long time,” he added.
Rogers said he joined Cassady and Carroll and did “a lot of hunting together.”
“Those are some good times I’ll always remember,” Rogers said. “He was one of those guys that once you really got to know him, you could have a blast around him. He was a lot of fun to be around.”
Professionally, “he was about as sharp in a uniform as any officer I’ve ever met. Everything he owned was always cleaned and polished,” Rogers added. “He was very neat and a perfectionist in just about everything he did. If he was going to do something, he was going to do it right.”
The police chief said he feels sorry for Cunningham and his family as well as for Carroll’s family. Cunningham grew up about two houses down from Rogers, Rogers said, and is “one of the most polite and well-mannered young men I know.”
“This case illustrates just how easy it is for a motorist to not see a motorcycle,” Rogers said.
“We investigate traffic accidents nearly every week in which somebody will pull right out in front of a car, and they’ll tell us, ‘I never saw him.’ It’s a whole lot easier to make that same accident with a motorcycle,” he added. “All motorists just need to look hard to make sure there’s not someone coming before they turn.”
Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry said Carroll got along with everyone. “He enjoyed carrying on but always stopped and checked on our guys, and we always stopped and checked on him.”
A loss such as Carroll’s shakes up everyone in law enforcement, Perry said. “The law enforcement profession is like a brotherhood. It hurts on that level,” he said.
But, he added, there are pleasures as well as risks in riding motorcycles, and “when something happens, there’s nothing to hold you.”
Gov. Tim Kaine called Carroll’s wife, Tami Stultz Carroll, on Saturday to express his condolences, Del. Ward Armstrong said.
Armstrong added that Carroll loved being a trooper, and “had lot discretion. He knew when somebody needed be swatted pretty good and when he didn’t.”
Martinsville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joan Ziglar agreed. “He was as gentle a person as you’d ever want to meet,” and also kind and compassionate.
Cassady said the state police are handling a lot of the funeral arrangements, and the family appreciates the support and compassion of the state police as well as area residents. |
| |
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)