Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant John Burright succumbed to injuries sustained on September 4th, 2001, when he struck by a vehicle near mile marker 243 on I-5 near Albany. Senior Trooper Maria Mignano and Police Officer Jason Hoerauf, of the Albany Police Department, were killed in the same incident while all three were assisting a family whose van had broken down.
Officer Hoerauf was on a ride-along with his mentor, Sergeant Burright, when the two stopped to assist the van. Trooper Mignano responded to the scene to back them up. While the three officers were standing on the right side of the van, which was parked on the right shoulder, a pickup truck suddenly swerved across a lane of traffic. The pickup struck the right rear of Trooper Mignano's patrol car, traveled along the other two vehicles, and struck all three officers. The driver of the vehicle was driving on a suspended license at the time and had fallen asleep while driving.
Trooper Mignano and Officer Hoerauf succumbed to their injuries at the scene. Sergeant Burright was flown to a local hospital in extremely critical condition. He suffered critical injuries that caused him to medically retire in early 2002. He remained under continuous medical care until succumbing to complications of his injuries on May 4th, 2021.
In December 2001, the man plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to two days in jail and three years of probation as part of a plea bargain.
Sergeant Burright had served with the Oregon State Police for 14 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and three sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OR-6026A914- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Burright gave the Oregon State Police 14 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Oregon. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Burright.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant John Richard Burright is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OR, 66 of 197 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.5% of this state's fallen. That is 2.5 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Oregon State Police, 15 of 31 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 48.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Richard Burright's cause is highlighted.
How John Richard Burright Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Richard Burright is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
30 officers from Oregon State Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
