By John Tredrea, Special Writer
Two Hopewell Township police officers and the chief of the Hopewell Fire Company were honored at Monday night’s Hopewell Township Committee meeting for saving the life of a 29-year old man at the scene of a recent motor vehicle accident.
Receiving the township Police Department’s Life Saving Award were Lt. William Springer and Officer Michael Peterson. Chief Joseph Novak of the Hopewell Fire Company, based in Hopewell Borough, received a letter of appreciation from the police.
As fellow officers, relatives and friends of the honorees looked on, Chief Lance Maloney of the township police said the three had responded to a one-car crash on Pennington-Hopewell Road (county Route 654, which runs between state Route 31 and Hopewell Borough) at 3:50 p.m. May 24. A car had crashed through a fence and come to rest in a pasture.
“The car was locked, and the driver was unresponsive,” Chief Maloney said.
Lt. Springer and Chief Novak got into the car by breaking a window. The symptoms of the driver indicated he may have been the victim of a drug overdose, police said.
Patrolman Henderson administered Narcan to the man, who regained consciousness in about one minute. He later was treated at an area hospital and released.
“The training, quick action and quick thinking of these three officers” are the reasons why the victim was “able to walk out of the hospital” shortly after the accident, the chief said.
“We’ve always been proud of our Police Department, but never prouder than we are tonight,” said Mayor Harvey Lester.
Police officers in New Jersey recently have begun carrying Narcan, which can counteract the effects of a drug overdose.
In other business, John Anderson of Jersey Central Power and Light said customers of his company in the township will have a significantly reduced chance of power outages in the future, due to the recent completion of an electrical substation in the Rocktown area of East Amwell, which is close to Hopewell Township’s northern border.
Mr. Anderson said the new substation means township users, which include the Mercer County Correction Center on state Route 29, now get their power from a significantly closer source than they did before. Prior to the completion of the new substation, he said, the power came from a substation in central Hunterdon County. The greater distance the power had to travel in those days meant there was a greater probability of outages due to circumstances such as a tree falling on power wires during a severe storm.
The committee also voted unanimously to adopt two bond ordinances. An $848,500 bond covers purchases of new vehicles and other equipment for the Public Works and police departments. A $1,120,803 bond covers work on township roads.
