Corporal Joseph L. Pokorny, Jr. PSP/Dedication

Photos Courtesy of PSP/FSU

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Loved ones recall slain trooper

Buzz up! By Michael Hasch, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

 

Cpl. Joseph Pokorny was many things -- a fearless policeman, an avid hunter, a private person who would give a friend the shirt off his back -- but most of all, he was a devoted father.

"He cared for his kids more than anything in the world," said his brother, Frank Pokorny, wiping tears from his eyes Monday outside his family's home in Beaver County.

 

Pokorny, 45, of Moon, a 22-year state police veteran, was shot and killed while making a traffic stop early yesterday near the Rosslyn Farms on-ramp to the Parkway West in Carnegie.

 

"He was a dedicated trooper and devoted father to his two children," said Robinson District Judge Carla Swearingen, one of the small but trusted circle of people Pokorny called friends.

 

Pokorny opted to work a steady midnight shift so he could be home during the day with his son, Joseph, 17, known as Jake, and daughter, Alexandre, 15, known as Ali.

 

"If he gave you his word, he stood by it. His biggest priority was his children. Everybody that knew him liked him," said Swearingen.

 

Pokorny was nearly 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, but he was small in childhood and learned at an early age how to defend himself from larger bullies, Frank Pokorny said.

 

"He was extremely fearless. He didn't take anything from anybody. He was a very hard-nosed person," his brother said.

 

Joseph Pokorny received a letter of commendation for bravery after an incident on July 8 when state police began chasing a man suspected of drunken driving and pulling a gun on a trooper.

 

When troopers tried to end the high-speed chase by putting spike strips on the Beaver Valley Expressway, the motorist turned around and began driving the wrong way.

 

When Pokorny saw the motorist trying to ram the side of a police car, he steered his cruiser into the path of the speeding car, hitting it head-on in a fiery collision.

 

"He saved one of our guys by taking on the other guy head-on," said state police Cpl. Kenneth Yuhas, one of several troopers offering condolences and support yesterday to Pokorny's parents, Florence and Joseph R. Pokorny, in Center Township.

 

"He actually put his life on the line by ramming the vehicle and stopping (it)," said Col. Jeffrey Miller, the head of the state police. "He was a very aggressive and conscientious corporal, always out there backing up the troops."

 

Pokorny, who joined the state police in 1983 after graduation from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., spent much of his career working dangerous undercover narcotics and vice details, his brother said.

 

In 1990, he joined the state police Tactical Narcotics Team based in Greensburg, Westmoreland County.

 

"He would never tell me stories about it except that it was scary and it was ugly," Frank Pokorny said. "(Other troopers) tell me he was always the first one through the front door with the battering ram."

 

Tom Alexander, who was Pokorny's football coach at Center Area High School, remembers "Joey" as a student who gave his all on the football field and in the classroom.

 

"Joey was one of those kids who played hard. He chose a rough career. He was a good student," Alexander said.

 

Pokorny's smile is what impressed state police Cpl. David Bova. "The thing I'll miss the most is his laugh and his big smile," Bova said.

 

"He was a great kid, a great adult who was fun-loving in high school but took his job seriously," said Anthony Mendicino, principal of Center Area High School, where Pokorny graduated in 1978.

 

Frank Pokorny said his brother did not decide to pursue a career in law enforcement until his last semester in school.

 

Following his promotion to corporal in September 2000, Joseph Pokorny served at various stations --including Belle Vernon, Fayette County -- until January 2003 when he became the vice supervisor for Troop B headquarters in Washington County.

 

Pokorny, who also is survived by a sister, Laura Hill, of Center, became a patrol supervisor in Moon in July 2004, but refused to be tied to a desk reading reports.

 

"He was, like, caffeinated. He was high-speed. He would go out and get the job done. He was not a slug," said Trooper Robin Mungo, a state police spokeswoman.

 

"He always wanted to be out on the road with the guys," Yuhas said.

 

But Frank Pokorny said his brother was "a very private" man.

 

"He certainly was not a mixer. He had a very small circle of friends. He was very guarded until you earned his trust and respect. Then he'd give you the shirt off his back," Frank Pokorny said.

 

"He was like a brother to me," said Ronald Evans, who often went hunting with the Pokorny brothers. "He was a great guy, the best. You knew you could count on him."

 

Crystal Hoffman, who lives near Joseph Pokorny's home in the Sharon Hill Manor neighborhood of Moon, said she regularly returned Pokorny's golden retriever when it broke free of its tether and ended up at her home.

 

"I didn't know Joe well, but he seemed to have a very a good sense of humor. He seemed like the kind of guy who really enjoyed life," Hoffman said.

 

The Pokorny brothers were avid hunters who made a number of trips together to hunt elk out West.

 

They last saw each other last week when Joseph Pokorny visited his brother's home in Hanover, Beaver County.

 

"He went out in the back woods to go hunting. He was an incredible woodsman. When he came back, he said he saw a buck but didn't shoot it. He smiled and said, 'I didn't want to.'"

 

Frank Pokorny, known as "Fearless Frank" for his special teams play for the Steelers in 1985 and '86, made no effort to hide his pain and tears.

 

"He was my older brother. I loved and miss everything about him."

Done