Robert De Paolis, TDF Director, presents a check for $5,000 to Lt. Dougalas of the Pennsylvania State Police to benefit the Josh Miller Memorial Fund in front of the Trooper Joshua Miller Memorial

On June 7, 2009 at 7:45 pm members of the Nazareth Police
Department responded to a report of a protection-from-abuse
order violation involving a weapon. As they arrived, the suspect
took a 9-year-old boy from his mother at gunpoint and fled the
location in a vehicle, leading to a 40 mile vehicle pursuit. The
suspect's vehicle was stopped in Coolbaugh Township
(Monroe County) when members of the Pennsylvania State Police
utilized the PIT maneuver, causing the vehicle to crash. Following the
crash, Trooper Miller and another trooper approached the car in an
attempt to rescue the boy from the suspect, but the suspect opened
fire on the troopers striking Trooper Miller in the neck and leg, and
striking his partner in the arm. The troopers were able to return fire,
killing the suspect. When Trooper Miller and his partner were engaged
in the gun battle, two other troopers were able to rescue the boy from
the passenger seat of the suspect's vehicle and carried him to safety.

Trooper Miller was transported to a local hospital where he died from his
wounds. His partner was also treated and recovered from his wound.

Trooper Miller had served with the Pennsylvania State Police for six years and was assigned to the Swiftwater State Police Barracks, and had previously served with the United States Marine Corps. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

On July 12, 2007 Trooper Miller, along with other members of the Pennsylvania State Police, assisted members of the New York City Police Department in the capture of two of the men who killed Police Officer Russell Timoshenko and wounded his partner on July 9, 2007 during a vehicle stop in Brooklyn, New York.

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