Following tragedy, a police officer’s back at work and reclaiming his weekend job
The Montgomery County, Maryland, police officer who lost both legs when struck by a reckless driver on Interstate 270 in October 2023 is not only returning to police patrols, he’s also resuming his weekend job of officiating Division I college football games in the Coastal, Ivy and Patriot leagues.
Sgt. Patrick Kepp is bouncing back from the tragedy in a big way.
Police said Kepp was intentionally struck by a driver who made a habit of provoking officers into a chase.
Raphael Mayorga, 23, of Frederick, Maryland, has since been charged with attempted first-degree murder for driving his speeding car into Kepp, who was laying stop sticks to deflate the driver’s tires when he was struck.
“I had told Chief (Marcus) Jones when he came to Shock Trauma, right away, maybe stubbornly, that I’d be back working. And I didn’t mean just working in an office and things like that. I wanted to be back on the road and back keeping the roadway safe, doing traffic safety, locking up drunk drivers, like I’ve done for my whole career, and it’s really important to me,” Kepp told WTOP.
Following multiple surgeries at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Kepp returned to training recruits in DUI enforcement in June.
Later this month when the police department gears up its annual Holiday Task Force to detect impaired drivers, Kepp plans to resume his duties as one of its leaders of DUI enforcement.
“My next goal, that’s going to be very attainable, is to be back on the road at some point in the month of November, as we start our holiday alcohol task force … that are out there looking for drunk and drug impaired drivers every night. My goal is to be back for that and be out there working with them through the months of November, December and January,” said Kepp.
On top of his job with the Montgomery County Police Department, Kepp works as a line judge in Division 1 college football. Since coming back to the field, he’s on track to become the first official with prosthetic legs to officiate a Division 1 game.
“I’ve been traveling the last few weeks and been able to just work games in the replay booth and stay involved in the game,” said Kepp.
“No two games are the same. No two plays are the same. You have a front-row seat to the best game of that day … you have a team of officials that you’re with, outside the football field, that camaraderie that we have as a crew … you build a lot of bonds.”
While working from the booth above the field, Kepp’s said his goal is to get back on the playing field.
“I think I would have been there a little bit earlier this season, if we hadn’t had to work through some prosthetic issues that were just a little bit out of my control. That’s part of the whole process … but I fully anticipate that by next season … that I’ll be back on the football field,” said Kepp.