Enfield Police Department Awards Medals and Citations

ENFIELD, CT — More than two dozen police officers, public safety personnel, agencies and citizens were recognized for outstanding service to the community during the annual Enfield Police Department awards presentation Thursday night at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society.

Police Chief Carl Sferrazza, presiding at the ceremonies for the final time before his Feb. 28 retirement, presented nine commendation letters, five meritorious service medals, three department citation medals and two unit citations. Six residents were also honored with the Citizen's Award.

The honorees were:

COMMENDATION LETTERS

• Dispatcher Jeremy Schussler, for staying on line with an accident victim trapped in a vehicle in Suffield for 45 minutes.
• Auxiliary Capt. Mehmet Bilgen, for assisting in the recovery of a stolen vehicle and arrest of the suspect.
• Officer Ryan Bartolucci, for multiple exemplary investigations over a several month period in 2017.
• Officers Brandon Caires, Brian Croteau and Vanessa Magagnoli, for rescue of a person attempting suicide.
• Officers David McGann and Allison Mount, for assisting in the evacuation of persons at a house fire.
• Officer Michael Colantuono, for arrest of a person with a stolen handgun, and for multiple canine tracks and apprehensions over a 5 month period in 2017.

MERITORIOUS SERVICE MEDALS

• Det. Martin Merritt and Officers Paul Dubiel, Pete Nisyrios, Jeff Peterson and Kevin Ragion, for successful collaboration on a complex and difficult fatal hit and run investigation.

DEPARTMENT CITATION MEDALS

• Officers Brandon Caires and Steven Austin, for rescue of persons from a house fire.
• Det. Brian Callaghan, for performing successful CPR on an unresponsive male he came upon while off duty.

UNIT CITATIONS

• Enfield Police Traffic Division, for successful resolution of a complex and difficult fatal hit and run investigation.
• CT Department of Corrections Canine Unit, for multiple instances of assistance with tracks, searches and apprehensions throughout 2017.

CITIZEN'S AWARDS

• Theodore Garrity, for witnessing and reporting burglaries in progress.
• Robert Berry, for assisting in the rescue of a suicidal person from the Connecticut River.
• Joseph Adams and Gerald Ceniglio, for preventing a suicidal person from jumping into the Connecticut River from the Route 190 bridge.
• Robert Smyth and Steven Smyth, for assisting in the identification of evidence essential to solving a fatal hit and run incident.

Photo credit: Dickie Dunn