On the Job 

A police officer who saved a woman from a knife-wielding attacker, six others who were stalked by an angry gunman, and a crew who rescued a man from a burning van were among the more than three dozen individuals and groups honored in October at the Ohio Attorney General’s 2015 Law Enforcement Conference.

The conference, an annual gathering of law enforcement officers from throughout Ohio, features speakers and workshops covering a range of topics, which this year focused on “Protecting Ohio’s Teens.”

The awards:

Distinguished Civilian Leadership Award
Theressa Kay Snyder, Perry Behavioral Health Choices
 
Snyder has been a driving force for addiction prevention and recovery as director of Perry Behavioral Health Choices, an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment center, and as a member of the Perry County Drug Coalition. New Lexington Police Chief Scott Ervin praised Snyder’s efforts against drug abuse. “Through Theressa’s positive leadership skills, along with her passion and dedication to the community, she has teamed up with local law enforcement to assist us in any way possible in working through the opiate epidemic that affects our community.” Through the treatment center, Snyder secured a grant to open a sober house for addicts in recovery and a men’s rehabilitation facility. Using her health-care knowledge, Snyder, a registered nurse, has educated many in the community about addiction.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Community Service Award
Det. Kimberly Mager, Ashland Police Division
 
In 2001, when Mager was a patrol officer with just a few years on the force, a boy who had been removed from his parents due to neglect confided that he had received nothing for Christmas. Officers pooled their money and bought gifts for the child. The next year, Mager decided to do something to bring Christmas cheer to other needy children — and Shop With a Cop was born. She gathered resources and contacted Job and Family Services and area schools to identify children in need. The first year, a few dozen children were able to buy items for themselves or gifts for family members. Each year, the program has expanded. It now includes all Ashland County law enforcement agencies, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and area fire departments. Last year, about 180 kids were able to take part.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Training Award
Chief Cel Rivera and Officer Michael Gidich, Lorain Police Department
 
Rivera and Gidich, in an effort to stem the tide of opiate-related overdose deaths in their community, succeeded in an early program to equip officers with naloxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids on the brain. In 2013, Rivera began conducting research and discovered that a police department in Massachusetts had trained officers to administer naloxone to overdose victims. Rivera met with Dr. William Evans, the Lorain County coroner, and contacted the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy to see about obtaining naloxone for his officers to carry. After hitting a snag, Rivera contacted state Sen. Gayle Manning and together they succeeded in gaining permission to equip officers with the nasal form of the drug. Soon, Senate Bill 57 was signed into law allowing first responders to carry naloxone. With the implementation of the program, a policy and training were needed. Rivera worked on the policy and asked Evans and Gidich, who is also a paramedic, to work on a training presentation and video. Within two weeks, the training materials were ready for distribution.
 
Mark Losey Distinguished Law Enforcement Service Award
Officer Kurt A. Holden, Wright State University Police Department
 
Holden, a six-year veteran of the force, is a versatile officer who works on the Bike Patrol, K9 and Crime Prevention units, and as a field training officer and supervisor. Yet, in addition to his busy schedule, he finds time to serve as a coach and mentor to foster youths at the university. The mentoring is close to Holden’s heart because he grew up in foster care. Determined to overcome his difficult childhood, Holden focused on his education and has earned associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He is a member of the Independent Scholars Network committee, a program to help former foster children succeed in college.
 
Mark Losey Distinguished Law Enforcement Service Award
Col. Paul A. Pride, superintendent, Ohio State Highway Patrol
 
Pride, a 26-year veteran of the patrol, is nationally known for his work to reduce traffic-crash deaths. His tenure as superintendent is marked by several innovative initiatives. His latest, the Trooper Shield program, is meant to reduce traffic-related fatalities and increase criminal patrol efforts. As heroin abuse reached epidemic proportions in 2012, Pride felt officers could make strides in targeting the method of transport. Under the Trooper Shield program, the basic traffic stop acts as a gateway to identify criminal operations, with officers being urged to spend more time with traffic violators and look more closely to identify signs of illegal activity. To help in the effort, Pride increased the number of canine officers and instituted a program to allow troopers to receive specialized training on criminal patrol operations. Each patrol district was also assigned a criminal patrol lieutenant to oversee crime enforcement efforts in each region. The patrol adopted a multifaceted approach to combat drugs and drug-related crime using a reallocation of resources, targeted enforcement, specialized officers and statewide initiatives.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Group Achievement Award
Cincinnati Police Department/Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Organized Crime Investigative Squad
 
Members of the Cincinnati Police Department and the ATF work together as the Organized Crime Investigative Squad (OCIS) task force to target gangs and illegal traffickers in firearms in southwestern Ohio. The task force was recognized for breaking up two violent robbery crews that were operating in Ohio and Kentucky. In the first case, after the task force received information last year that two men were trying to sell a stockpile of guns, the team set up surveillance. After developing probable cause, the task force moved in and detained them. Forty-two guns were seized. The investigation also found evidence of a series of crimes including a home invasion, an armed bank robbery and carjacking, several burglaries, an arson and two auto thefts. Eight people were arrested in connection with the crimes. On the heels of that case, OCIS began investigating a series of armed robberies in Hamilton County. A case was built, and six suspects were arrested.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Group Achievement Award
Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force
 
The Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional group made up of agents and officers from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. It targets drug trafficking organizations in northeastern Ohio. In one recent case, the task force investigated a drug trafficking organization that was suspected of bringing vast quantities of heroin into Youngstown and western Pennsylvania. During a two-year investigation, the task force employed a variety of techniques that resulted in the indictment of 18 people in U.S. Northern District Court, Eastern Division, on 129 counts. In addition, 37 others were indicted in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges, including possession of heroin, conspiracy to traffic in heroin and possession of criminal tools.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Group Achievement Award
U.S. Secret Service Southern District of Ohio Electronic & Financial Crimes Task Force
 
The U.S. Secret Service Southern District of Ohio Electronic & Financial Crimes Task Force spent almost four years building a case against, and then dismantling, a multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering scheme in central Ohio. In 2011, the task force began investigating a Columbus family suspected of using their ATM business to launder proceeds from skimmed credit-card transactions. The family and other conspirators would buy credit-card numbers from various sources and cash them out at their ATMs and point-of-sale terminals at two stores they owned. They would use re-encoded cards to buy genuine gift cards, cigarettes and other products. They would then sell the items for cash. In March, six search warrants were executed on the family’s home as well as the homes of accomplices. Two members of the family and other accomplices were sent to court to answer to the charges. Bank accounts and almost 50 ATMs were seized for a total asset seizure of about $750,000.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Meritorious Service Award
Det. Michael McNeeley, Det. Brian Middaugh and Det. Anthony Sauto, Cleveland Division of Police
 
While trying to make a neighborhood safe from gang violence, three detectives put their lives at risk to bring a fugitive to justice. On July 21, 2014, McNeeley, Middaugh and Sauto, who were assigned to the Gang Impact Unit, set out to patrol a neighborhood in response to a series of violent crimes that were believed to be caused by a gang. The three had reason to believe that a fugitive being sought for a nearby shooting was linked to gang activity, so they decided to watch his home. Soon, the detectives saw the suspect and another man leave the home, and they confronted the pair, who turned out to be armed. Sauto disarmed and captured one of them, but the other man brandished a handgun and took off. McNeeley and Middaugh chased the suspect and defended themselves by firing several shots during the pursuit. The suspect, who was wounded, was captured and charged.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Meritorious Service Award
Lt. Clint G. Arnold, Lt. Matthew J. Hamilton, Lt. Kevin S. Long, Sgt. Joseph J. Luebbers, Ohio State Highway Patrol; Lt. Morgan A. Dallman, Deputy Brian L. Oswald, Butler County Sheriff’s Office
 
A team of troopers and two deputies worked together and risked their lives to try to save a mother who had been abducted from her home. On Sept. 12, 2014, the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) was notified that the suspect in a murder and possible abduction in Paducah, Ky., and his captive were believed to be traveling into Ohio. The report identified the man and said he was suspected of killing a teenage boy and forcing the boy’s mother into an SUV. A short time later, an OSHP trooper advised that he was following the suspect’s vehicle on I-75. Other troopers joined the pursuit and signaled the suspect to pull over. As troopers exited their cars, they heard gunshots coming from inside the SUV, but its tinted windows blocked the view. Using a loudspeaker, the troopers ordered the suspect to surrender. Along with the lieutenant and deputy from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, the troopers developed a plan using protective shields and breaching tools. The six men formed two teams to approach the vehicle from opposite sides. The right team broke the rear window, and the left team broke the driver’s window. In the vehicle, the suspect was found wounded; the captive was dead. The suspect is facing aggravated murder and kidnapping charges.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award
Sgt. Kevin Coleman, Patrol Officer Daniel Jopek, Patrol Officer Kevin Kincaid Jr., Patrol Officer Robert Mangan, Patrol Officer James Merritt, Patrol Officer Ian Mussell, Patrol Officer Mark Pesta, Patrol Officer Robby Prock, Cleveland Division of Police
 
The officers of the 4th District station put their lives at risk to rescue a man in a wheelchair from a burning vehicle. On the evening of June 1, 2014, the officers heard a crash and ran to see what had happened. Two vehicles had collided in the intersection next to the station. One of the vehicles, a minivan, struck a utility pole and smoke was coming from under the hood. The officers found that the driver of the minivan was seated in a wheelchair secured in the vehicle. Officers got into the van and tried to free the wheelchair and remove the driver, but were overcome by smoke. Soon, the van began burning. As an officer ran back to the station to get a fire extinguisher, the others freed the driver and pulled him to safety. He was transported to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award
Patrol Officer Timothy Hannon, Patrol Officer John Jarrell, Patrol Officer John Lyons, Patrol Officer Brandon Melbar, Patrol Officer David Muniz, Patrol Officer Michael Surtz, Cleveland Division of Police
 
As an angry gunman stalked and fired upon officers in an apartment complex, they kept their cool and tried to bring about a peaceful resolution. In March, a man, who had been drinking, got in an argument with his wife and threatened her and the landlord with a handgun. After the husband passed out, the wife went to the 4th District station for help. The officers responded to the suspect’s address. While the backup officers waited, two others accompanied the landlord to the stairs leading up to the apartment. The suspect stepped out and fired two shots, striking Muniz in the chest, hitting his ballistic vest. All of the officers rushed to covered positions in the stairwell and a kitchen. They told the suspect to drop the gun and come downstairs. He refused and walked toward the officers in the kitchen and raised his gun. Hannon, Jarrell, Lyons and Surtz fired in defense of their lives, killing the suspect.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award
Patrol Officer John Lyons, Patrol Officer Matthew Pollack, Cleveland Division of Police
 
On Oct. 11, 2014, the officers were working a night patrol in a high- violence area when they got a call with the location of a man who was wanted on outstanding warrants. They reached the address and saw the suspect in the driveway. They left the patrol car and approached him. The suspect pulled out a handgun and fired at Lyons’ chest, hitting his ballistic vest. Lyons took cover and fired once at the suspect. Pollack exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who then fled. When backup arrived, the suspect couldn’t be found. Eventually, he emerged with a gunshot wound in his chest. He was arrested and taken to a hospital, where he recovered. The shooter was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lyons was treated for his injuries and released.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award
Capt. David A. Brown, Sgt. Michael P. Batchik, Uniontown Police Department
 
On Sept. 15, 2014, Brown and Batchik responded to calls of a man trapped in a burning vehicle in the parking lot of a grocery store. When the two arrived, they found the driver unconscious with his foot jammed on the accelerator, the doors locked and the windows rolled up. His vehicle was smashing into a parked car. The two tried to quickly break a window with a fire extinguisher but failed. Batchik ran back to his cruiser to get a window punch. Smoke from the fire and the spinning tires made it hard to see or breathe. Batchik climbed in the vehicle to unlock the driver’s door. Brown and Batchik together pulled the 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound victim to safety, away from the burning vehicle. Firefighters and paramedics soon arrived to help. The victim was treated at the hospital for several days and released.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award
Patrol Officer Joseph Edwards IV, Patrol Officer Nicholas Lombardi, Cleveland Division of Police
 
On Jan. 21, while on patrol, Edwards and Lombardi received information from other patrol officers that shots had been fired during a burglary and that the suspect fled in a gold pickup truck. A few minutes later, the two saw a truck matching the description and began to follow it. The truck stopped in a driveway and the driver got out and started walking toward the house. Edwards and Lombardi ordered the man to return to his truck, where they attempted to pat him down for weapons. The suspect wouldn’t keep his hands on the truck. Lombardi attempted to put the suspect’s hands behind his back and he began to struggle. The suspect pulled out a gun and fired inches from Edwards’ head. The officer fell but then jumped up to help his partner get the suspect in handcuffs. Both officers had to be treated at the hospital.
 
Distinguished Law Enforcement Valor Award
Patrolman Steve Wilson, South Euclid Police Department
 
On Oct. 18, 2014, Wilson and Det. Sgt. Rick Friedl responded to calls of a burglary in progress. When they arrived at the home, they heard a woman screaming for help and saw that the back door had been forced open. The two entered the residence and saw a man with a knife on top of an injured woman. Both ordered the man to put the knife down, but he refused. Wilson fired two shots, both of which hit the suspect, who later died at the hospital. Later, the victim wrote a letter to her rescuers, saying, “Thank you for doing a superb job as police officers. Most importantly, thank you Steve for saving my life.”