For rendering assistance to a police officer under attack, David Zorn, a driver for Consolidated Freightways, has received the 2000 Goodyear North America Highway Hero Award.
According to Goodyear, Zorn was driving through Norcross, Ga., when he witnessed a police officer being attacked on the side of the road. The assailant had pinned the officer and was trying to get his gun, but fled when Zorn stopped his 18-wheeler. Armed with a large flashlight, Zorn pursued the attacker, caught him and held him until police backups arrived.
Zorn was one of four truck drivers selected as finalists for the award. The other three were Edward Bowlin, Payne Trucking; Brent Shupe, Midwest Cost Transport; and Carl Tafua, Viking Freight.
Bowlin was parked when he saw a woman being intentionally run down by a motorist who was her estranged husband. When the husband jumped out and began stabbing her in the chest, Bowlin pinned him to the ground until police arrived.
Shupe rescued two female passengers from a burning car that had collided with his truck and dragged the car's driver from the wreck just before it exploded.
Tafua saw an eight-year-old girl screaming at a man pursuing her and let her into his cab. He took down the license-plate number of the fleeing suspect, who was later arrested for having abducted the child two days before.
The finalists and their guests each received all-expense-paid trips to the Daytona 500 and the Mid-America Trucking Show, where they each received a $10,000 savings bond and an engraved plaque. Zorn also received a diamond ring identifying him as the year's Highway Hero.
