WURTSBORO- February 14th marks the 26th anniversary of the line-of-duty death of Trooper Nathaniel Burroughs. On February 14, 1997, Trooper Burroughs was fatally injured while investigating a one-car accident on Wurtsboro Mountain on Route 17 in the Town of Mamakating. Hazardous road conditions were a contributing factor to the trooper’s death.
Trooper Burroughs was on scene and had taken immediate steps to secure the safety of the lone operator of the damaged vehicle by activating his emergency lighting and protecting the scene with his cruiser.
According to official documents, as Trooper Burroughs began interviewing the driver in front of the damaged car, a tractor-trailer skidded off the ice-covered road striking the cruiser causing it to hit both men. Trooper Burroughs died from his injuries a short time later at Horton Memorial Hospital in Middletown.
Each year on the anniversary of his passing members of the state police and Sullivan County Sheriff’s office gather at a nearby monument that stands in his honor near exit 112.
Trooper Burroughs was a 10-year veteran of the state police and had served his entire career with Troop F.
At the time of his death, he was 30 years old and was assigned to the Wurtsboro barracks.
