Lake County Sheriff Deputy Jonathan Levin was heading home after work last summer when he came upon a crash involving several motorcycles and a pickup truck that had caught fire. Immediately, his training kicked in, as he pulled people to safety and saved lives.
On Monday, Levin was named 2016 Deputy of the Year by the Illinois Sheriff’s Association for his heroics.
“When you’re doing the job you love, you don’t expect anything out of it,” Levin told the News-Sun. “You just do the best you can.”
The incident occurred on July 16 while he headed north on State Park Road just south of Grass Lake Road in Fox Lake. He heard a loud noise that sounded like a motorcycle engine revving up, he said.
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“I noticed the pickup truck in the southbound lane and two people laying on the road,” he said.
The truck was on fire, and so was a man pinned under his motorcycle, he said, adding that there had been four motorcycles traveling together when the driver of the truck was believed to have had a heart attack. The driver of the lead motorcycle, who managed to avoid the crash, helped Levin pull the trapped man out from under his bike, and Levin patted out the fire.
Killed in the collision were the pickup driver, identified by the Lake County Coroner’s Office as 60-year-old Charles Kleffner of Spring Grove, and one of the motorcycle drivers, who was identified by the McHenry County Coroner’s Office as Matthew Stautz of Rothschild, Wis.
The driver of the second motorcycle managed to lay his bike down in order to avoid getting struck by the truck, Levin said. However, both he and his female passenger were seriously injured and were intensive care for a period of time, he said. The man was “covered in gas and he kept igniting because of the heat,” Levin said.
Levin helped get both of them to safety. Others on the scene brought him a blanket and a T-shirt, then eventually some ice to help keep the man from re-igniting, Levin said.
“It’s weird — you have no time to think, all your training kicks in,” he said. “You kind of amaze yourself what you can do in a short time.”
Levin has been a deputy for four years and serves with the sheriff’s marine unit patrolling the lakes. Before that, he was a lieutenant and EMT with the Winthrop Fire Department for ten years.
“As long as I’ve been doing this, you go out in the ambulance to help someone in need,” he said. “This one was a little more personal. You’re right there.”
Levin said his wife, Jennifer Levin, and their daughter, 12, and son, 9, have been very supportive afterward. He remembers calling his wife on his way home to tell her what happened, but it took a while for the gravity of the events to sink in.
“I broke down,” he said. “There were a couple of times — she’s been really supportive and helped me through it.”
Levin was honored at the Illinois Sheriff’s Association Winter Conference in East Peoria on Monday. In January, the Fox Lake Village Board, Mayor Donny Schmit and Police Chief Russell Laine honored him in January.
“I am very proud of Deputy Levin’s heroic actions and excited to see him named Deputy of the Year by the Illinois Sheriff’s Association,” Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said in a statement.
“There’s no doubt Deputy Levin’s actions went above and beyond the call of duty on July 16th,” Undersheriff Ray Rose said in the statement. “Because of his quick thinking and brave actions, he was able to save someone’s life.”
Levin said he is “honored and blessed” to be named deputy of the year. He said the feeling is indescribable.
“In the heart, I was just doing what was right,” he said.
Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Lake County News-Sun.