BENTON HARBOR, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Michigan State Police (MSP) Trooper Ryan Codde, assigned to the Emergency Support Team in the Special Operations Division, received the department’s Bravery Award during an Employee Recognition ceremony in Lansing Monday.
Officials with MSP said the award is tied to an off-duty incident that occurred in February in Benton Harbor.
Codde was driving in his personal vehicle with his son, who noticed black smoke coming from a building nearby.
Codde could see flames coming from a chicken coop, though no emergency vehicles had arrived yet. As he stopped his vehicle, he saw the chicken coop sat close to a home and an abandoned building, and the fire was quickly spreading to both.
A man was pounding on the front door yelling for those inside to get out and told Codde a woman and two children lived in the home.
After instructing the man to call 911, Codde made the decision to enter the home, as he did not hear sirens while the fire continued to spread.
The front door was locked, but Codde was able to kick it in, as well as a second locked door, to make his way inside. No one answered when he called out, so he hurried upstairs where he found a frantic woman and two young children.
Codde and the trio were able to get outside to safety.
Codde reentered the home to make sure no one else was inside, even as the fire continued to spread.
By the time he cleared the main floor and determined no one else was there, he could hear sirens and exited the home.
“Trooper Codde risked his life twice to save this mother and her children,” Captain Dave Sosinski said. “We are extremely proud of him and his service to the
residents of Michigan.”
Codde enlisted with the MSP in 2008, graduating as a member of the 121 st Trooper Recruit School. Prior to his assignment with the ES Team, he was assigned to the Niles Post.
