Sen. Ronda Storms to Be Honored During Sheriff's Awards Ceremony

State Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, will be among those recognized during the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's third-quarter awards ceremony set for Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. at the Falkenburg Road Jail assembly room, 520 N. Falkenburg Road.

During the ceremony, sheriff's office personnel will be honored for
valor and exceptional work performance. The sheriff also will recognize recent retirees, employees for longevity of service and honor citizens who helped save lives and catch criminals.

Among the highlights of the ceremony, Sheriff David Gee will present Storms with the Sheriff's Special Appreciation Award. The Florida Sheriff's Association also will recognize Storms, state Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, and state Rep. Shawn Harrison, R-Tampa, for their leadership and exemplary support of key public safety legislation issues that affect the safety of Florida's citizens.

In addition, Deputy Stephen Bohling and Deputy Danielle Spender will be presented the Medal of Distinguished Service. In June, the two deputies responded to a fire at the Rocky Creek Retirement Community and encountered a fully engulfed residence with flames. Both deputies gathered their fire extinguishers, began clearing the buildings and searching for anyone requiring assistance. The deputies made their way through the smoke and found an elderly woman who could not exit the home on her own accord. Bohling placed the victim in a fireman's carry while Spender cleared a path to exit. The victim survived this incident and is doing fine.

Operation 3D DUI Squad will receive the Outstanding Squad Award.  The DUI squad made 1,136 DUI arrests, conducted 34 checkpoints, issued more than 1,000 traffic citations and had approximately 1,500 hours of courtroom testimony. The unit's hard work and dedication has been recognized with recent awards such the MADD Florida 2010 Outstanding Dedication to Sobriety Checkpoints Award and the
2009 and 2010 Florida Department of Transportation DUI Sustained Enforcement Award (winning a fully equipped 2010 Chevy Tahoe).