Verona Detective Earns Valor Award For Defusing Deadly Situation

VERONA, NJ — A Verona detective has earned a commendation for his quick actions, which helped to defuse a potentially deadly situation during an arrest in 2017.

Verona Police Detective Timmy Banta will be honored by the 200 Club of Essex County during the group’s 52nd Annual Valor Awards on May 10. The annual awards recognize local officers’ “bravery, dedication to duty, courageous vigilance and selflessness.”

According to the 200 Club:

“Verona Police Detective Timmy Banta suffered knife wounds while making a forced entry into the apartment of an armed and severely distraught suspect who had set fire to her unit and threatened to burn down the entire multi-family building.”

When Banta and Officer Erin McGarrity arrived on the scene, the woman allegedly refused them entry into her apartment. When Banta forced entry, he found the woman in the kitchen with a large knife in her hand. She then attempted to use flames coming from a cut gas line against the officers, MyVeronaNJ.com reported.

Banta was able to eventually negotiate with the woman to drop the knife and officers were able to enter the apartment and subdue the woman, the report stated. (Read the full article here)

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