TUMWATER — Three employees at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center and three employees at the Olympic Corrections Center have earned state Department of Corrections annual agency awards.
Two of the awards were given to Correctional Officers Casey Spoor and Christopher Crockett of the Clallam Bay Corrections Center for helping rescue and provide first aid to a co-worker whose car had slid to the bottom of a ravine, according to the state Department of Corrections.
In December, Spoor and Crockett had just finished their shift at Clallam Bay Correction Center. They were traveling on Eagle Crest way, which is the only access road to the facility. The road was icy and treacherous, according to DOC.
Spoor and Crockett noticed some skid marks on an icy roadway and a spot where the grass had been torn off the bank. They stopped their cars and saw a trail of debris leading to a truck belonging to one of their co-workers.
When they reached the truck, they found their co-worker injured inside. The correctional officers called 9-1-1 and officials at the prison. Correctional center officials also dispatched Kim Cleveland, a registered nurse at the prison, to the scene.
Crockett, Spoor and Cleveland stayed with their co-worker and monitored his breathing while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Their co-worker, another correctional officer, sustained injuries to his back and neck. He passed away last week.
“The emergency room doctors said if it were not for the actions of Correctional Officers Spoor, Crockett and Registered Nurse Cleveland, the officer would have died at the scene,” said Correctional Captain Brian Bowers.
“Spoor and Crockett showed great courage and bravery. They strive to uphold the department’s dedication to improving public safety and working together for safe communities.”
The Department of Corrections also named Chantal Hughes as the Clallam Bay Corrections Center’s Correctional Officer of the Year.
At Olympic Corrections Center in Forks, Richard Gooding was named the Classification Counselor of the Year; William Flores was named Correctional Officer of the Year; and Corrections and Custody Officer Jack Cornish was named as Supervisor of the Year.
They were honored during a ceremony in Tumwater on April 20.
The awards recognize employee’s continuous work to improve public safety. Each year staff members are nominated by their colleagues and a total of 74 employees across the state received awards out of a pool of 1,073 nominations.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
