Ansonia honored police officers Tuesday for acts ranging from the remarkable to the routine, from saving a baby choking on formula to showing stick-to-itiveness while investigating a minor car crash.
But that was only fitting, several who spoke at Tuesday’s ceremony said, because cops leave their homes every morning never knowing just what they’ll have to deal with.
“You run toward danger and uncertainty when most are running in the other direction,” Police Chief Kevin Hale told award recipients during Tuesday night’s ceremony in the Ansonia High School auditorium.
David X. Sullivan, a federal prosecutor and guest speaker Tuesday, put it in terms slightly more blunt.
“They’re the front line, every day, the guys (and) the women who get up, go to work, get in a patrol car, put on a vest, and deal with the crises of the community,” said Sullivan. “It’s a society that bleeds, unfortunately.”
Mayor James Della Volpe called the Police Department “a source of pride for all of Ansonia’s citizens.”
“God bless you and your proud families,” Della Volpe said.
Click the play button above to see the procession of award-winners into Tuesday’s ceremony, led by bagpipers Ed Evers and Ken Walker of the Connecticut Firefighters Pipes and Drums.
Life-Saving Awards
Officer Joseph Jackson was the recipient of two life saving awards Tuesday — in connection with incidents this March and last April — but the 25-year department vet will probably be picking up another one at next year’s ceremony, too after an incident this week.
Dispatched Monday morning about 11:15 a.m. to a report of a two-month-old choking at an Olson Drive address, Jackson said he arrived to find the baby’s mother in hysterics.
He then began to give the child back blows to help restore its breathing.
“The lady was upset, yelling. You could tell she (the baby) was having a difficult time,” Jackson said. “I was working on the baby, trying to clear the airways out, and I turned the baby upside down.”
The formula the girl was choking then came out of her mouth and nose, Jackson said.
Jackson said it was simply a case — yet another for him — of “Right place, right time.”
Stories of such heroic quick thinking are obviously compelling and attract widespread praise, but as many who spoke Tuesday noted, police work isn’t always so glamorous — in fact, it hardly ever is.
As Lt. Wayne Williams put it at the beginning of Tuesday’s ceremony: “These acts tend to go unnoticed because it’s all part of the job, but we’re finding time tonight to congratulate these officers on a job well-done.”
Phipps Award Of Excellence
Take Off. Barry McMahon, the recipient of this year’s Brian F. Phipps Memorial Award of Excellence.
The award is presented in honor of Brian F. Phipps, who served as a Police Commissioner in Ansonia for 13 years.
Phipps, a retired Brigadier General in the United States Army National Guard and a Vietnam War veteran, was a warm, honest and direct individual whose work ethic and ideals were evident to all who knew and admired him, according to the award description.
Officers who show qualities similar to Phipps — honor, loyalty, dedication, honesty and professionalism — are considered for the award, with nominations coming from the officers themselves.
McMahon also received a certificate of recognition Tuesday in connection with a May 25, 2011 motor vehicle crash involving an evading vehicle he was assigned to.
Williams said McMahon spent his next two work shifts checking streets in the area the crash took place looking for the suspect’s vehicle.
McMahon eventually found the vehicle, and proved it was involved in the accident by matching it to parts he had kept from the scene of the crash.
During Tuesday’s ceremony Hale said McMahon carries himself “with the same high honor, gallantry, and dignity that our good friend Brian did throughout his life.”
Distinguished Service Award
The department honored three officers — Steven Martins, Jonathan Troesser, and Jean-Pierre Lessard — with distinguished service awards for their quick apprehension of a suspect in an armed robbery last October.
Police were dispatched to the area of the Big Y on Main Street Oct. 25 after a man called 911 saying he and another person had been robbed behind the store.
Martins arrived first on the scene and broadcast a description of the robbery suspect, and within minutes, Lessard saw a man with the same description walking on South Cliff Street, who then fled into the woods in the area of Cottage Avenue.
Martins and Troesser were on the scene within seconds, and Martins and Lessard then began to track the suspect with Martins’ K9, Thor, while Troesser and others set up a perimeter.
Troesser then heard a loud movement in the woods near his post on Myrtle Avenue, went to investigate, found the robbery suspect lying on the ground, and took him into custody without further incident.
Citations
The department also awarded a number of citations to officers and civilians Tuesday:
- Troesser and Sgt. Jenifer Guisto received a citation for their investigation of an alleged gunpoint robbery of a Dunkin’ Donuts employee on Pershing Drive. Troesser and Guisto determined the robbery was an inside job, and were able to recover nearly $12,000 taken in the stick-up.
- Jackson, Off. Michael Castillo and Off. Kevin Coonan received citations for responding to a Mary Street residence last December while a burglary was in progress and quickly apprehending a suspect at the scene. Neighbor Rose Vaca, who alerted police to the crime, was also presented with an Ansonia Police Citizen Award.
- Guisto and Troesser were also cited for their quick apprehension of youths involved with the vandalism of the Ansonia Public Library last March.
* Martins and Det. Stephen Adcox received citations for their work to solve a spate of burglaries on the west side of the city from June to September of last year.
- Three postal inspectors — Joseph Bunaskavich, Jason Bourdeau, and Matthew Morrison — as well as Troesser were cited for foiling a heist plot at the Post Office in January, and preventing nearly $12,000 in cash and checks from being stolen.
- Martins, Castillo, Guisto, and Sgt. Eric Sturges received citations for solving a burglary last November at My Sister’s Place.
- Off. Matthew Macero was cited for his seven-plus years of undercover work, both in the Valley Street Crimes Unit and the Ansonia Police Department’s Anti-Crime Unit, to improve the quality of life of residents through narcotics investigations.
Tuesday’s awards ceremony was the department’s 12th. Williams, Sgt. Edward Henry, and Off. Richard Esposito made up the awards committee.
The full list of award winners:
Brian F. Phipps Memorial Award Of Excellence
Off. Barry McMahon
Life Saving Award
Off. Joseph Jackson
Distinguished Service Award
Off. Steven Martins
Off. Jonathan Troesser
Jean-Pierre Lessard
Departmental Citation
Sgt. Jenifer Guisto
Sgt. Eric Sturges
Det. Stephen Adcox
Off. Kevin Coonan
Off. Joseph Jackson
Off. Steven Martins
Off. Matthew Macero
Off. Jonathan Troesser
Off. Michael Castillo
Postal Inspector Matthew Morrison
Postal Inspector Joseph Bunaskavich
Postal Inspector Jason Bourdeau
Certificate of Recognition
Off. Barry McMahon
Citizens Award
Rosa Vaca
35-Year Certificate
Det. John Rafalowski
25-Year Certificate
Off. Kevin Coonan
Off. Joseph Jackson
20-Year Certificate
Lt. Andrew Cota
15-Year Certificate
Sgt. Vincent Orlando
Det. Stephen Adcox
Off. Brian Harte
Off. Mark Guillet
Off. Barry McMahon
Animal Control Officer Jean Roslonowski
Dispatcher Patricia Rowley
Bookkeeper Dawn LaBaire
10-Year Certificate
Sgt. Jenifer Guisto
Sgt. Eric Sturges
Administrative Assistant Jennifer Lester
5‑Year Certificate
Off. Paul Smith
Off. Jonathan Troesser
Off. Anthony Capezzali
Off. Michael Sterling
Off. John Harkins
Records Clerk Sarah Blackwell
