Police Hall of Fame honors West Fork chief slain in 1981

 Paul Mueller Paul Mueller Paul Mueller
Paul Mueller Paul Mueller Paul Mueller

FAYETTEVILLE -- The American Police Hall of Fame honored a West Fork police chief slain during a traffic stop 34 years ago during a ceremony Wednesday law enforcement officials said was long overdue.

Paul Mueller's widow and two children of Paul Mueller accepted the Hall of Fame's Medal of Honor, which was presented by the Paul Mueller Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police at the University of Arkansas at university police headquarters.

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For more information about the American Police Hall of Fame, go to www.aphf.org.

Source: Staff report

"I cannot believe it's been almost 35 years and all of you still remember the horrible tragedy we all went through," Myrrah Mueller, Paul Mueller's widow, told the audience of around 40 people, her voice shaking.

"Is this not the most awesome thing?" she said later to her son, John Mueller, who attended with his older sister, Paula Mueller.

Paula Mueller was 10 years old when Paul Mueller was alerted to a suspected drunk driver on U.S. 71 on March 20, 1981. The driver and his passenger had just robbed a Fayetteville Pizza Hut, and the chief said over his radio they were acting "squirrelly" before he pulled them over, university police Capt. Matt Mills said Wednesday.

One of the two men in the car fired a .44 Magnum revolver in Paul Mueller's direction, hitting the chief twice before he returned fire, Mills said. The car drove off as other officers arrived, beginning a three-day manhunt that ended with another police officer injured by a gunshot. One of the suspects was killed during the manhunt and the other died 13 years later while serving a life sentence.

"Chief Mueller's actions that night are an example to all of us in law enforcement," Mills said, adding the man put others above himself. "His example of selflessness lives on today."

Paula Mueller, now a teacher in Farmington, said she heard the commotion on the scanner as it was happening and told her mother, "Something's wrong with Dad." It was like a bad dream, she said. Myrrah Mueller called a neighbor and the children's grandparents over to watch them while she went to find out.

"Without God and family we wouldn't have made it. God, family and friends," Paula Mueller said. "It helps to know we're not forgotten, he's not forgotten, and just to remember all police officers."

The brief ceremony was somber at times and more lighthearted at others, with the Muellers enthusiastically greeting old friends and cracking jokes.

"My kids were small, and I had to go on," Myrrah Mueller said, joking, "Now they're old enough they're raising me."

More than 8,000 officers killed in the line of duty have been awarded the medal of honor, according to the Hall of Fame's website. Their names are also engraved at the organization's museum in Florida.

Ken Ingalls, a Greenland police officer who worked for the West Fork department for years, said he reached out to the Hall of Fame because Paul Mueller had never received an individual honor for his sacrifice. Memorial ceremonies since his death have honored him as one of several local fallen officers.

"I wasn't sure how it would go because it happened so long ago, but they quickly jumped on it," Ingalls said of the police group. Wednesday's ceremony was heartwarming, long overdue and "the right thing to do," he said.

NW News on 09/03/2015

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