State Rep. Aric Nesbitt introduced legislation to name a portion of Interstate 94 in Van Buren County in honor of Michigan State Trooper Rick Johnson, who was killed in the line of duty in 2000.

Nesbitt, R-Lawton, introduced House Bill 4923, which would authorize naming a portion of the interstate as “Trooper Rick L. Johnson Highway.”

“Trooper Johnson was a dedicated member of the law enforcement community who, the very day before his death, had successfully talked a suicidal man off an overpass on that same highway,” Nesbitt said. “Memorializing him with a section of roadway is the very least we can do to honor his sacrifice and devotion to public safety in our community.”

Johnson, 35 at the time of his death, had stopped a vehicle on westbound I-94 on May 6, 2000, for a mechanical violation. While walking back to his patrol vehicle, a third vehicle left the highway and crashed into the patrol car, pinning Johnson between the cars. He was airlifted to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, where he was pronounced dead.