Columbus, Ohio - When it comes to living up to the agency’s five core values: justice, duty, courage, honesty and loyalty, our U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and employees give their all every day. To those five values, let’s for a moment add two words: selfless commitment.
Then imagine for a moment that you’ve just been involved in a head-on accident. You and your baby are trapped inside the vehicle, you’re scared and alone. You’d be lucky if professional help arrived in scant minutes. This time you’re in luck as four ICE officers - Immigration Enforcement Agents (IEA) Wesley Clark, Erin Kramer and Meaghan Murphy; and Deportation Officer Nathan Rasper, who weren’t thinking about themselves or the danger up ahead, came upon the two heavily damaged vehicles blocking the road - smoke billowing from one vehicle.
Only 11 miles from their Columbus office enroute to a surveillance operation, IEAs Clark and Kramer could hear a woman who appeared trapped inside her car screaming, “My baby!”
While IEA Kramer ran to the woman’s aid, IEA Clark ran to the other vehicle to find the male driver slumped over the wheel, apparently unconscious with his foot on the accelerator, the engine revving caused additional smoke. Clark ordered bystanders to step back in case the vehicle caught fire. The driver was virtually trapped in the vehicle because of the extensive damage to all the doors which couldn’t be opened. Clark called 911 and IEA Murphy and DO Rasper, who were on their way to the surveillance op. As they arrived on the scene several attempts were made to remove the male driver from the vehicle as IEA Kramer was simultaneously trying to remove the woman and her newborn baby from the other vehicle.
Murphy was able to locate a local resident with a crowbar to pry the driver’s side door open as Rasper gained entry through the passenger side, shutting off the engine and checking the man’s pulse as he appeared to slip out of consciousness for a few minutes. Minutes later the Columbus Division of Police and Division of Fire arrived on the scene and were forced to cut the driver from the vehicle due to the extensive damage.
The woman and her baby were treated at scene by the medics and the male was transported to a local hospital in stable condition.
Selfless commitment - more than just two words. Perhaps Field Office Director Rebecca Adducci said it best, “Our ERO officers are the hardest working, most caring folks I’ve known. Their dedication and commitment to their communities in Ohio and throughout the region serves as the benchmark for all of us.”
IEA Wesley Clark, 34, is a native of Central Ohio. He spent nine years as a police officer/field training officer with the Columbus, OH Division of Police prior to being hired by the United States Border Patrol in 2010. Clark was assigned to the Nogales, AZ Border Patrol Station upon graduation from the Border Patrol Academy. In March 2012 he transferred from the Border Patrol to ICE/ERO and has been at the Columbus, OH sub-office since March 2013. Clark attended Ohio State University (OSU) where he earned a degree in Criminal Justice. He has spent five years in the OSU Marching Band, and in his spare time currently serves as a stadium announcer for The OSU Marching Band at home and away football games.
IEA Erin Kramer, 31, is a graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. She graduated in 2005 from Michigan State and went to work as Loss Prevention specialist at numerous retail stores in the metro Detroit area. Kramer has been with ICE ERO as an IEA in Columbus, OH for five years.
Deportation Officer Nathan Rasper, 33, has been with ICE since 2006 after initial duty with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service as an Immigration Inspector. He was recently selected for a Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer position in Kansas City, MO and will be leaving the Columbus office next month.
