Friend, former Mayor vows never to forget slain Mendota Heights police officer 10 years later

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - On July 30, Mendota Heights will mark a somber anniversary, 10 years since police officer Scott Patrick was killed during a routine traffic stop.

Now, a decade later, one man is making sure no one ever forgets the sacrifice of his friend and former brother in uniform.

"I don't know, it is 10 years. It is just, it is unreal," former Mendota Heights Mayor Neil Garlock said recently.

The intersection at Smith Avenue and Dodd Road means everything to Garlock.

"I call it sacred ground," he said during an interview at that location. "I just have this feeling when I walk by. He was laying right there, you know?"

It was there, 10 years ago, that Garlock’s dear friend and fellow officer was shot and killed during an otherwise routine traffic stop. Patrick had just stepped out of his squad when the driver, a career felon and fugitive, opened fire from behind the wheel.

"He did not see the gun come out the window," Garlock stated. "He did not have a chance to move."

Garlock had just retired from the police department, weeks before the deadly shooting shattered his heart and ripped a hole in this suburban community of less than 12,000.

"I am actually kind of sensitive about things, about Scott. But I don't know, it is just something I deal with. I have to deal with it in my own way," said Garlock

Garlock lost a pal, a former neighbor and a brother in uniform. Officer Patrick served Mendota Heights for 19 years.

"The whole thing is to memorialize his life and do as much as we can," explained Garlock, who is committed to making sure no one ever forgets Patrick’s sacrifice.

Garlock was eventually elected mayor of the city, becoming the driving force in naming the annual 5k community run after Patrick, installing an end of watch granite tribute at the city’s Market Square, and placing a pair of memorial benches across Mendota Heights.

But it is at the Smith and Dodd intersection, just over the border in West St. Paul where Garlock pours his heart and soul, tending to the space as hallowed ground. Garlock lives just a half-mile away and is chief caretaker along a stretch of road now known as Officer Scott Patrick Memorial Highway that he walks by nearly every day.

It is both a physical and emotional connection, a deep attachment for the long-time law enforcement veteran, anytime someone wearing the badge does not go home at the end of their shift.

Garlock said, "It always brings you back to Smith and Dodd. I don't care if it is in California or wherever, it is going to bring me back to Smith and Dodd."

On Tuesday Garlock will host a noontime community vigil at the Smith and Dodd intersection as he has done annually on July 30, culminating in a poignant moment of silence at 12:20 p.m., the exact moment Patrick was killed. The entire community is invited with a larger than usual crowd expected for the somber 10-year anniversary.