May atmore 2020

seconds,” he recalled, “when a van traveling
approximately 65 mph struck me.”
According to reports, the collision knocked the officer
“about 36 feet into the air.” He landed on pavement and
spent 11 days in the hospital with a pelvis that was
broken in three places, a concussion, a fractured spine
and numerous bruises, bumps and cuts. Doctors also
had to dig out Pruitt's pocketknife, which had been
forced through his pocket and was imbedded about four
inches deep into his thigh.
An uphill climb followed, but Chris was back on his
feet in a relatively short time. “I was released from the
hospital and was in a wheelchair for six months,” he
remembered. “After the six-month mark I came back
and worked patrol while also being a reserve officer for
the drug task force.”
He was a K9 handler for the final 16 months of his
APD career, after which he served a 14-year tenure
as Atmore Municipal Court Clerk. He is now retired
from public service and serves as pastor of Lottie
Baptist Church.
Travis worked four years as an Atmore firefighter
before he was hired by APD Chief Chuck Brooks in
2017. He graduated from the Alabama Peace Officer
Training School in Selma in April 2018 and literally
began following his father's footsteps at that time.
No surprise, Chris and his fireman son discovered
they also shared another connection.
“There was one conversation that we had, where
I asked him if he had ever thought about being a fireman,
and he decided to give it a try,” the senior Pruitt
explained. “Believe it or not, while I was a (police)
dispatcher, I started volunteering with the fire department.
In those days they had to leave a man at the
station to cover the phones when they got a call, so
I would fill in. They eventually let me start going with
them on fire calls.”
Travis is married to Elizabeth Bonnell Pruitt, formerly
of Daphne, and they have a daughter, Madison, who is
4. He is excited about the opportunity afforded him by
his sergeant's rank and National Guard recruiter and
retention duties but is chomping at the bit to get back
on patrol. He knows, though, it will be about two more
years before that happens.
“During a field training exercise … I was offered a
unique opportunity to be active duty in the Guard as
a recruiter,” he said. “I …was placed on active duty
orders, at which point I had to hang up the badge and
gun temporarily. Atmore Police has my job frozen for
when I return off orders, as long as (the city of) Atmore
helps me keep my certification.”
Chris said he tried to instill in his son a strong love for
the law and a strong understanding that his name and
reputation would be the biggest assets he could ever
bank on. He is thrilled, he said, that his only son decided
to follow a career trail similar to the one on which he
himself embarked 25 years ago.
“It's an honor to serve in any capacity,” he said. “It is
an extra honor to serve the people you personally know.
It gives me a little extra bit of pride to know that Travis
is serving in the community he grew up in.”
He added that not everyone would become a fan of
the lessons he firmly implanted in the young police
officer's mind during his growth into an adult.
“One of the things about Travis is that there is no
in-between; it's either right or wrong,” Chris said. “That
sometimes rubs some people the wrong way, but it will
help you sleep better if you live like that.”
Left, Chris Pruitt in the Army.
At right, a young Travis Pruitt in uniform
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