Brookhaven has awarded several of its police officers letters of commendation for going above and beyond the call of duty.
“These guys have been doing a phenomenal job and the teamwork involved was unbelievable,” said Police Chief Gary Yandura.
-Officer Joseph King and Officer Howard Miller were honored for helping save an elderly woman’s life. On Nov. 28, the officers responded to an accident on Lenox Park Boulevard, where they found a woman’s car teetering over an embankment. One of the officers put his weight behind the car to stop it from falling while the other officer rescued the woman.
-Officer Victor Dankewich, Detective Russell Davis and Crime Scene Technician Dave Walter were honored for sending a burglary suspect to jail and recovering a stolen TV during a traffic stop just minutes after a break-in.
Dankewich stopped a SUV on Nov. 14 after he spotted the vehicle’s license plate covered. As the officer was talking to the driver, he saw a large flat screen TV in the back of the vehicle. Police linked the driver to a burglary that had just occurred on Durden Drive. In addition to the TV, police found burglary tools and a ski mask in the SUV. Davis and Walter helped link the tools inside the SUV to specific identifying marks found on the Durden Drive home.
-Sgt. Chris Shelton, Sgt. Tyrone Oliver and Detective Thomas Martin were recognized for capturing two armed robbery suspects on Nov. 28. Shelton noticed a suspicious car that matched the description of an armed robbery suspect. He followed the car until the occupants fled on foot. Officers captured the suspects. Detectives found narcotics and firearms inside the car. Yandura said the suspects were also linked to seven other robberies in the area.