HONOR ROLL
 |
Gerald Dennis VickAppointed September 18, 1989
|
|
At 0220 hours (2:20 a.m.) on Friday, May 6, 2005, Sergeant Gerald Dennis Vick1, Badge No. 186, was shot and killed while conducting an undercover human trafficking investigation in the vicinity of E. Seventh and N. Forest Streets in the City of Saint Paul. Vick was shot twice through the chest and once in the back during the fatal incident.
Sergeant Vick and his partner, Sergeant Joseph Michael Strong2, were working on a prostitution case in several east side bars when they encountered two men, Harry Jerome Evans and Antonio Alexander Kelly, near Erick’s Bar, 949 E. Seventh Street. The two men were talking with departing bar patrons, possibly in an attempt to set up a personal robbery. Vick and his partner spoke with the men and told them to move along. The investigators then separated and went to their respective cars. When Sergeant Strong encountered the men near his car, they exchanged a few words before both men fled into a darkened alley. Both investigators pursued the suspects into the alley. One of the subjects, Evans, pulled out a .38 caliber handgun and opened fire, fatally wounding Sergeant Vick. Both subjects were apprehended later in the day and the man who shot Sergeant Vick was charged with first degree murder. He was subsequently convicted of same and sentenced to life in prison in January of the following year.
Born on August 22, 1963, and raised in Ramsey County, forty-one year old Gerald Dennis Vick had been with the Police Department since September 18, 1989 (sixteen years), and was the agency’s only three-time Medal of Valor recipient at the time of his death. Vick had worked his vice assignment for several years and was well known in the social service community for the caring way he dealt with the victims he came in contact with. He was survived by his wife, Connie, and two children, Clayton and Amanda. Sergeant Vick’s funeral was held on Wednesday, May 11, 2005, at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, and he is buried at Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, North Saint Paul, Minnesota.
1 Gerald Dennis Vick was appointed Police Officer September 18, 1989; was promoted to Sergeant July 31, 1999; and was fatally injured by gunfire while working in an undercover capacity on Friday, May 6, 2005. He received the “Medal of Valor” in 1991, 1997, and 2005.
2 Joseph Michael Strong was appointed Police Officer January 30, 1984; was promoted to Sergeant April 21, 2001, and retired May 28, 2010.