By Teddy Kulmala
The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Sgt. Quest Hallman remembers little about the minor crash he worked in Lexington County more than a decade ago.
But the little boy he posed with for a picture before continuing his patrol that day remembers. In fact, Hallman last week posed for another picture with that same boy, who is now 21 years old and has a uniform and badge just like Hallman’s.
After his S.C. Highway Patrol graduation last week, Trooper Joseph Ragsdale met the trooper who inspired him to join the agency.
“He looked similar, but I didn’t fully recognize him,” Ragsdale said of their first interaction in 14 years.
Ragsdale and his mother were in a minor crash in Lexington County when Ragsdale was in elementary school. Hallman responded to the crash and made a report.
Ragsdale, who said he always had a respect and fascination with law enforcement and the armed forces growing up, was too shy to ask Hallman to take a picture with him and asked his father to make the request.
“He said, ‘Of course,’ ” Ragsdale recalled. “It meant a lot of me. I know the trooper had a busy day. He took a few minutes just to stand right there and get a photo with me.”
Ragsdale said that as he grew older and considered a career in law enforcement, he kept remembering that picture.
“I was so amazed at how the trooper held himself, his uniform that he wore, the kindness that he showed to my family,” he said. “I wanted to be like that trooper that impacted my life. I want to go out and impact the lives in our community.”
Robin Ragsdale said she could see a love in her son’s eyes whenever he saw someone wearing a military or law enforcement uniform.
“Anytime we were in a restaurant or a store and he’d see them, he’d always say, ‘Mom, mom, can I go over there and shake his hand? Can I talk to him?’ ” she said.
She tears up recalling her pride seeing Ragsdale graduate last week and said that with the pride comes fear for her son’s safety as he patrols Richland County.
“Like any mama whose son is going out there to serve and protect our country or the state of South Carolina, you’re wary when he leaves out the door,” she said. “Is he gonna come home at night?”
Hallman, who works now in Saluda, McCormick and Edgefield counties, says he was just doing his job by posing for a picture with the younger Ragsdale. He said he doesn’t see himself as a role model. He implored the new trooper to “treat folks the same way I treated you.”
Hallman said law enforcement officers are trained always to be ready to act and to remember that no call is routine.
“You’re gonna have an impact on somebody one way or another, bad or good,” Hallman said. “It might as well be good.”