Six-wheeled Iraq veteran joins sheriff's department

If Batman owned a station wagon, it might look a little like the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department's newest vehicle.

The department recently acquired a 31-ton, six-wheeled Iraq War veteran capable of hauling eight to 11 people through ice, high water and improvised explosive devices.

"It's seriously armored. They made these things to protect the troops from IEDs," said Lt. Chris Hull of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

The vehicle, called an MRAP -- an acronym for mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle -- had 20 miles on its odometer when the U.S. Department of Defense transferred it to the county, Hull said.

"It was a vehicle that we acquired through the DOD program where they demilitarize certain pieces of equipment from the military and offer it to law enforcement," he said.

The department announced the acquisition on Facebook, where Hull said some "haters" were questioning why a local law-enforcement agency would need such a powerful tool.

"It was free," he said. "It was offered to us. ... Even if this thing gets utilized one time or so and it saves someone's life, it's well worth it."

Hull said several thousand of the vehicles exist, but only 350 were reconditioned for police use before the federal government canceled the program; the rest will be scrapped.

Five jurisdictions in Missouri, including Cape Girardeau County, obtained MRAPs through the program, he said.

While it was designed to carry soldiers safely through war zones, the vehicle could prove useful in a variety of situations, from stopping an active shooter to rescuing people during floods or other natural disasters, Hull said.

"It's a vehicle to get everybody home safe in," he said.

Hull said an MRAP would have come in handy in 2012, when officers responded to a report of an active shooter in Jackson.

Lawrence Guthrie, 47, faces charges of domestic assault, armed criminal action and assault on a law enforcement officer in connection with the June 13, 2012, confrontation, in which he is accused of exchanging gunfire with police.

With the MRAP, "we could have driven right up on him, and we'd have been done," Hull said.

He said the sheriff's department can use the vehicle to assist other agencies.

"If they have high-risk things going on, we'll be happy to throw one of our drivers in it and go help out," he said.

Its striking appearance also could make it a good public-relations tool, Hull said.

On the way back from Sealy, Texas, where Hull and another officer picked it up, the MRAP drew attention everywhere it went, with people asking questions and posing for pictures with it, he said.

"Every time we stopped to fuel, people's never seen them, and they're like, 'Oh, my gosh, what's that?'" Hull said.

He said the department likely will bring the MRAP to public events so people can see it up close.

"We'll probably have something at the fair this year," he said, noting the department has several other retired military vehicles, including Humvees. "We'll let people come out and crawl all over them. ... It's a very impressive vehicle, and it's also nice that the government shared it with us."

epriddy@semissourian.com

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