South Kohala officer honored for helping stranded driver on highway
A stranded diesel driver on a busy South Kohala highway led to an award for Andrew Love Jr., whose roadside response kept traffic moving and a motorist safe.
A South Kohala patrol officer earned quarterly recognition after turning a stranded-motorist call into a roadside rescue that kept a busy highway safer for everyone nearby. Andrew Love Jr. was named Officer of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2026 by the Hawai‘i Island Safety and Security Professionals Association, a peer honor that highlighted practical public safety work far from the ceremony stage.
The incident that led to the award happened on Nov. 26, 2025, when Love encountered a driver whose vehicle had run out of diesel fuel. Instead of treating the stop as a routine delay, he recognized the immediate danger of a disabled vehicle sitting in a hazardous spot along the roadway. Love helped push the vehicle off the road, went to a nearby gas station to buy diesel fuel, returned with it, and stayed on scene until the vehicle was jump-started and the driver could leave safely.
South Kohala Patrol Sgt. Tyler Prokopec said Love’s response reflected professionalism, compassion and dedication. The Hawai‘i Police Department said the officer’s actions also protected other drivers who could have been affected by the stalled vehicle, a reminder that a single breakdown on a busy corridor can quickly become a wider traffic hazard.
The recognition was presented June 12, 2026, in South Kohala. HISSPA, short for the Hawai‘i Island Safety and Security Professionals Association, uses the quarterly award to recognize work that strengthens safety across Hawaii Island, and Love’s response fit that standard in a very direct way: he solved a problem on the spot, kept the motorist from being left vulnerable, and reduced the chance of a secondary crash.
For South Kohala, where long road corridors and heavy traffic can make stranded vehicles especially risky, the award points to the kind of police work residents see but rarely celebrate publicly. Love’s actions showed that neighborhood-level policing can mean more than enforcement. It can mean getting out of the cruiser, moving a car to safety, finding fuel, and staying until a stranger can get back on the road.
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