Amid the news that Leitchfield Police Chief Bryan is resigning his position in less than two weeks, in an unrelated move, a Leitchfield police officer is being promoted.
LPD Officer Keith Harrell, who has been with the Leitchfield Police Department since February 2015, is being promoted to sergeant. Harrell began his career as a deputy with the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office in 2011 before joining LPD.
The promotion now gives LPD two sergeants, as Harrell joins Sgt. Robert Jackson as a supervisor.
Harrell, who was born and raised in Grayson County, received recognition, along with Grayson County Deputy Rance Whobrey, in April of last year for their life-saving efforts after encountering a subject bleeding to death.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of February 25, 2018, when Harrell and Whobrey responded to a report of shots fired at 115 Market Street, in Leitchfield.
Upon arriving at the scene, Harrell and Whobrey heard two loud and distinctive “pops,” consistent with the sound of gunshots. They then saw two Hispanic males run into an apartment near where the shots originated.
As the two approached the apartment, they noticed a large pool of blood on the ground in front of the door, resulting in the two law enforcement officials forcibly entering the apartment. They quickly encountered a male standing in a hallway, and after the man failed to obey verbal commands, Harrell and Whobrey took the man to the ground.
Whobrey then noticed a “very large and very deep” laceration to the man’s right forearm, which was bleeding profusely (the man had slashed his arm open while punching a window). Whobrey immediately called for EMS while Harrell applied pressure to the wound.
Whobrey ran and retrieved a tourniquet (issued by the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office) from his cruiser and applied it to the man’s arm.
LPD Officer Joe Overton, who had arrived on the scene along with other police units, took over for Harrell in applying pressure to the man’s arm, as Kentucky State Police Trooper Blake Owens and Harrell secured the apartment, finding another male hiding in a closet.
EMS personnel soon arrived and transported the injured man to Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center before he was airlifted to a Lexington trauma center.
The emergency room physician at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center told Sheriff Norman Chaffins that if pressure had been applied only one minute later, the man would have died due to catastrophic loss of blood.
Grayson County Fiscal Court presented Harrell and Whobrey with framed certificates designating each a “Lifesaver.”
(Photo: Sgt. Keith Harrell working the 2018 Twin Lakes National Fiddler Championship)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
