News Releases

MCP Holds Quarterly Award Ceremony

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 22, 2017

The Montgomery County Police Department held its Quarterly Awards Ceremony today at the Public Safety Headquarters. The awards ceremony featured the presentation of the Medal of Valor, the Life Saving Award, and Commendation. The award recipients are as follows:

Medal of Valor - The Department’s highest award.  The Medal of Valor is awarded to an employee for heroism and distinction in extremely hazardous circumstances. In order to be considered for this honor, an employee must exhibit unusual bravery in the performance of duty while facing the threat of death of serious injury.



Medal of Valor Recipients:

Police Officer III Jeffrey Hughes

• On August 10, 2016, Officer Hughes was working off duty at the Flower Branch Apartments.  Officer Hughes had left the apartments to assist another officer with a call for service at the Long Branch Library when he heard a loud explosion nearby.  He returned to the Flower Branch Apartments and observed that apartments were on fire and that some of the building appeared to have collapsed.  Officer Hughes assisted residents who were jumping to safety from their burning apartments.  Officer Hughes continued to help residents from the surrounding areas and assist Fire/Rescue personnel in determining the number of possible victims of this horrible explosion.

Police Officer II Daniel Garcia

Police Officer I Mark Monsini

Police Officer II David Schramm

Police Officer III William Seidel

Police Officer II Thomas Tibbs

Police Officer III Stephen Wells

• Officers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a suspect involved in a conspiracy to commit murder.  The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed and crashed into trees on Emory Lane.  The officers who responded to the collision observed smoke coming from the vehicle and reacting quickly, safely removed the three individuals from the vehicle just as the car became completely engulfed in fire.

Life Saving Award - The award given to an employee who makes a major contribution toward saving the life of another by providing essential medical treatment prior to arrival of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel.



Life Saving Award Recipients:

Police Officer III Kevin Correa

Police Officer I Ashley Mosner

Police Officer II Holman Santos

• Officers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a suspect involved in a conspiracy to commit murder.  The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed and crashed into trees on Emory Lane.  The officers who responded to the collision observed smoke coming from the vehicle and reacting quickly, safely removed the three individuals from the vehicle just as the car became completely engulfed in fire.

Police Officer III Barton Hudson

• Officer Hudson performed Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for approximately 4 minutes on a person that suffered a heart attack until Fire/Rescue arrived.  The individual was transported to Shady Grove Hospital.

Police Officer III Seth Carson

• Officer Carson performed Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on an individual that suffered a heart attack.  The individual recovered.

Police Officer III Roderick Cox

Police Officer III Andrew Richardson

Police Officer II Samuel Supnick

Police Officer III Joshua Swecker

• The above officers applied life-saving measures to an individual that was a suspect in a robbery.  The individual had broken through a window to gain access to a house. The officers found the suspect going in and out of consciousness.  He had a large laceration on his arm, later determined to be an arterial bleed. The suspect was combative.  Officers applied pressure and a hemostatic agent to the wound in an attempt to stop the heavy bleeding. When this failed, officers applied a tourniquet to the arm.  The individual was rushed to the hospital and survived his injuries.

Corporal Joseph Dodson

• Officer Dodson reached through a fence along the overpass of Columbia Pike and Briggs Chaney Road to prevent a suicidal individual from jumping off the overpass.

Police Officer III Dale Steffen

• Officer Steffen located a 16-year-old girl threatening suicide on the roof of her house and went on the roof to pull her to safety.

A Commendation - Is awarded to an employee who makes a significant contribution to the mission of the department beyond the ordinary call of duty. It recognizes those incidents wherein the member’s courage, resourcefulness, tenacity, and/or perseverance in the performance of the employee’s duties has resulted in the protection of life or property, the prevention of a major crime, or the apprehension of an armed and dangerous criminal.



Commendation Recipients:

Corporal Raymond Bennett

POIII Nicholas Bonturi

POIII Bassell Ifield

POIII James Walls

• Officers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a suspect involved in a conspiracy to commit murder.  The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed and crashed into trees on Emory Lane.  The officers who responded to the collision observed smoke coming from the vehicle and reacting quickly, safely removed the three individuals from the vehicle just as the car became completely engulfed in fire.

Corporal Bill Tran

Sergeant Edward Wilcher

• The above officers responded to a first-degree assault.  The officers located and arrested the suspects and recovered a semi-automatic handgun from the suspects' possession.  The gun had been stolen in a recent residential burglary.

Police Officer III Andrew Byrd

Police Officer III Andrew Curran

Police Officer III Laura Nichols

• The above officers received a Commendation for their roles during an incident that involved a suicidal individual with a handgun. Upon arriving at the location, the officers found the person in his vehicle. The individual advised the officers that he had a loaded handgun and additional firearms in the trunk of his vehicle. Over the course of approximately 30 minutes, the officers were able to convince the individual to surrender his handgun and exit his vehicle.

Congratulations to all of the recipients.

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Release ID: 17-054
Media Contact: mcpnews 
Categories: award