Hero of the Highway: Trooper Brant Masek, ’12 ΒΘΠ, Saves Fulton Children During High-Speed Chase

Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Brant Masek, ’12 ΒΘΠ, is being hailed as a local hero after deliberately using his patrol car to intercept a vehicle careening toward children at a lemonade stand in Fulton, Missouri.

Local headlines captured the harrowing incident on June 10, 2024. Not long after, the Fulton Rotary Club formally honored Masek with the prestigious G.W. Law Officer of the Year Award on Sept. 11, 2024.

Fulton Police Chief Bill Ladwig nominated the Westminster graduate, detailing in his nomination form that “the suspects impacted Masek’s patrol car with him behind the wheel, saving the children on the corner from serious injury or death.”

The young entrepreneurs were well-known in the community for raising money for summer camp with their lemonade and craft stand on the corner of Bluff and Ninth streets. They were also well-known by Masek, who purchased a beverage from them just a few days before the incident.

The native of Fulton, Missouri, easily ran the local streets through his mind when he learned the two notorious robbery and physical injury suspects were headed through town.

Wanted in both the state of Indiana and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the individuals were fleeing law enforcement in a high-speed chase that began on Highway 54 near New Bloomfield, Missouri.

Masek quickly calculated the stop lights he knew the suspects would encounter as they exited the highway and headed through Fulton, often exceeding 100 miles an hour during the pursuit.

His calculations were exact, and the suspects were apprehended after their green Chevrolet Colorado collided with Masek’s patrol car and two other vehicles.

A testament to his self-designed degree in business leadership from Westminster College, the Portland, Missouri, resident is matter of fact about doing the right thing when faced with a leadership crisis. Masek recently reflected on his heroic act with a powerful statement: “I’ll always put myself in harm’s way to protect others.”

Masek is married to Hannah (Domino) Masek, ’15 ΚΑΘ (center), Westminster’s Assistant Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations. Other Westminster/Masek family members include his sister, Kelsey, ’12 ΚΚΓ (not pictured); father, Don, ’77 IND (left); and mother, Phyllis (right), who recently retired from the Registrar’s Office after more than 40 years of service to the College.

Photos courtesy of the Fulton Rotary Club and Brant Masek.