Officer who lost legs in line of duty recognized for policing drunken driving

A Montgomery County police officer who lost his legs in the line of duty received a standing ovation from the Washington Regional Alcohol Program.

A year ago, Sgt. Patrick Kepp was recovering from a devastating injury. A speeding driver intentionally hit him on Interstate 270 in October 2023, prosecutors say.

>📺 Watch News4 now: Stream NBC4 newscasts for free right here, right now.

After months of rehab and multiple surgeries, Kepp finally returned to work.

“To be able to be here, and again, in person for this instead of sitting on a video screen and having all that, is really cool,” Kepp said.

We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. >Sign up here.

On Friday, Kepp received a Washington Regional Alcohol Program award for arresting 81 suspected drunken drivers in 2023 – more than any other officer on the county force.

“I had a ton of arrests through field training, and that really, kind of just stoked the fire for wanting to be out there,” Kepp said. “I saw the impact that it had early on in my career. Noah Leotta passed away, and that had an impact on everyone within the department and certainly me, as well. And the next year I signed up for the holiday task force.”

Officer Leotta died after being struck by a drunken driver in 2015 while conducting anti-drunken driving enforcement.