Woodland Heights resident Jerry Pendergrass doesn’t consider himself a hero, though his actions last summer potentially saved the life of a Springfield police officer.
For his quick-thinking actions, Pendergrass received the Missouri Police Chiefs Association’s prestigious “President’s Citizen Award” during a ceremony in Jefferson City.
Pendergrass, a conceal-and-carry gun owner, turned citizen cop last summer when he came to the aid of Officer Andy Zinke after a suspect drew his gun on Zinke. The incident concluded in Pendergrass’ back yard in north Springfield.
The instinctive act during Zinke’s foot pursuit of a gun-toting suspect who had already fired shots at police who were chasing him after reports the suspect had been attempting to break into homes in the neighborhood.
“I still once a day go ‘wow, that happened,’” Pendergrass said. “I have various thoughts. The world has changed. I feel like God placed me there. I’m no cop. I just reacted.”
The suspect already had fired at another officer. Zinke found himself face to face with the suspect a couple of minutes later.
“After I shot this guy I went to re-load and my gun jammed, and I looked down at my gun and I turned and there’s Jerry standing there with his gun. It bought me that second,” Zinke told KY3 in a news report.
During those potentially key seconds, the suspect pointed his weapon at Zinke. Pendergrass responded by drawing his hand gun and warning the subject to put down his weapon
“That guy sat back up on his knees and looked directly at me and that’s when I was telling him, ‘Hey, stop, hey stop – you can live. I mean it doesn’t have to end here. You can live. There is an ambulance in front of the house that can get you help right now.’ He looked at me, looked at his gun and I said, ‘No, don’t look at the gun.’
“With me saying that, Zinke was able to stop moving around and bring his attention back and it was at the same time that he brought his attention back that we both ended up – the man reached for the gun and we shot him.”
Zinke told KY3 that it was a blessing to have Jerry step up.
”Not a lot of people would do something like that,” Zinke said. “Certainly, we don’t encourage people to do that, people without training, but what Jerry did on his own, the bravery that he showed – it was something pretty remarkable that day and I was blessed to have him over there.”
Pendergrass said he keeps the award on his wall in the living room and see it every day. The impact of his actions didn’t really hit home until the banquet in Jefferson City.
“Again, I’m not a hero,” he said. “Until going to the dinner, I didn’t realize the impact that I had actually made in that officer’s life, his wife’s life … until I heard his side of the story and how he recalls it.
“The biggest thing, it doesn’t matter where I am, I want to remind people to be kind to each other. Make sure you’re doing your part.”