Charles Co. PFC Jonathan Kelly Named Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year

newsBot · May 12, 2022

Police Officer First Class Jonathan Kelly Named
Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is pleased to announce PFC Jonathan Kelly was named the Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year for 2021. PFC Kelly began his career at the CCSO in 2005. In his 16-year career, he has served in the Patrol Division, Special Services Division and the Special Operations Division. PFC Kelly was selected by the Sons of the American Legion for this prestigious award as a result of his actions in the following incident:

On May 17, 2021, while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on a wanted subject with a lengthy history of violent encounters with law enforcement, two Charles County Sheriff’s Officers were shot by the wanted man. After being shot, one of the officers retreated to an upstairs bedroom and exited the house out of a second story window, dropping into the yard of the residence. PFC Kelly, who was in a position of cover, ran to assist the officer. After dragging the officer to safety, PFC Kelly applied a tourniquet to the officer’s leg upon seeing the gunshot wound. In order to quickly get the officer to a safe location to receive medical care, PFC Kelly placed the officer on the hood of another officer’s vehicle and laid on top of him to secure him while they were driven away from the scene.

PFC Kelly’s actions and decisions made during this dangerous and stressful incident stabilized the officer’s injuries and facilitated his transfer to medical personnel as quickly as possible. For these life-saving efforts, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office presented PFC Kelly with the Silver Medal of Valor.

“PFC Kelly’s actions that day were selfless, courageous, and critical to getting another officer to safety,” said Sheriff Berry. “We are so proud of all of the officers and employees that showed many acts of bravery during this horrific incident. We are grateful that the Sons of the American Legion want to recognize their efforts.”

CONTACT: Janelle Love
Media Relations Office
(301) 609-6538 or (301) 848-4799

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) in 2001 and has since earned the highest rating of Excellence. Established in 1658, the CCSO is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For more information, visit www.ccso.us.

Charles County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Charles County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online at www.charlescountycrimesolvers.com or by using the P3Intel mobile app, which can be found in the Android Store and Apple store by searching P3tips. For more information about the P3 program, click on this link: www.p3intel.com.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: https://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at https://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at https://so.md/expungeme.