Trooper Matt Bond was raised in Meadville and graduated from Edinboro University in 1994. He enlisted in the Pennsylvania State Police on September 25, 1995. Following graduation on March 22, 1996, Trooper Bond was assigned to Troop B, Belle Vernon, and transferred to Troop E, Erie, on September 5, 1998.

In his short tenure with the State Police, Trooper Bond epitomized the image of the Department. He was awarded the State Police Medal of Honor by Commissioner Paul J. Evanko during a ceremony on August 27, 1999, for his role in attempting to rescue a woman and her young daughter who were trapped in their burning home in Harborcreek Township, Erie County, on December 5, 1998.

Trooper Bond was critically injured on Thursday, January 13, 2000, when the marked police vehicle in which he was a passenger was rammed from the rear on Interstate 90 in Harborcreek Township, Erie County. Trooper William Stuckey, operator of the vehicle, had pulled onto the berm so the Troopers could assist a motorist whose vehicle had slid into the median. Trooper Stuckey was released after treatment at Hamot Medical Center but Trooper Bond had received massive injuries and died on Friday, January 14, 2000.

The Pennsylvania State Police have continue to pay tribute to the memory of Matt Bond by  presenting scholarships to Crawford county high school students.  This year they chose to raise money via a charity golf tournament and chose the NWPA-ASA as their beneficiary in addition to two $500 scholarships to Crawford County high school graduates.