Lt. Hovis calls it a career after 30 years at Cape PD; recalls stray bullet taking out Big Bird

Barry Hovis said his mother cried when he joined the Cape Girardeau Police Department in July 1986.

She worried for his safety.

More than 30 years later, he's still in one piece -- and a lieutenant, no less -- but he said she'll likely cry again during his retirement celebration this afternoon.

Hovis started out as a patrol officer before becoming the department's first school-resource officer.

"I probably enjoyed that as much as I've enjoyed anything in my life," he said.

He was promoted to sergeant, serving for several years as the department's public-information officer before being promoted to lieutenant.

In his current role as operation-support division commander, he oversees the jail, equipment maintenance and things such as licensing.

He said technology has caused the most change in his tenure as a policeman. He joined before the department had modern email, but lately, he's been tasked with running background checks on people so they can drive for the ride- hailing app carGO.

He said he'd only had to do about three such licenses in the past few years before the tech company started.

"I've done over a hundred in the past few weeks," he said.

Hovis said being promoted to lieutenant comes close to his proudest moment.

It was an honor he did not necessarily expect to attain -- one that, to him, validates his hard work.

"Of course," he continued, "there was that time I shot Big Bird in the Fredericktown Wal-Mart."

It was 2004, and he'd been pursuing a suspect in a stolen Mustang. He said the chase, which ended at the Wal-Mart in Fredricktown, Missouri, after police shot out the suspect's tires, took about 36 minutes.

The man ran inside the store, looking for the firearms display, Hovis recalled, and he followed.

"I told him to stop, get down," he said. "Everybody in the store dropped to the ground except for him."

The suspect then slipped on a wet floor, hitting the ground anyway. Hovis ended up wrestling with the man, who began grabbing at his gun.

After the gun went off, Hovis and other officers were able to take the man into custody. While processing the scene, Hovis figured out where the stray round had gone.

"There was a Big Bird, about a foot-and-a-half tall, with a bullet hole between the eyes and stuffing coming out the back of the head," he said.

He offered to pay for it.

The employees told him he could just take it. It went into evidence for a while, but when it was released, Hovis kept it.

He said in retirement, he plans to stay busy building a home with his wife and putting more attention into the logging company he runs with his brother on the side.

But, he pointed out, he's only 52. He's got options.

"I got into it because I liked working with people," he said. "I've been very privileged to serve."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

40 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.