Kissimmee chief thanks his ‘blue family’ at OPD awards

The past few weeks have been a time of healing for the Kissimmee Police Department.

It was just over a month ago when two of their own, Sgt. Richard “Sam” Howard and Officer Matthew Baxter, were fatally shot during a patrol. Several local agencies, including the Orlando Police Department, assisted with the manhunt and capture of the man who is accused of shooting them.

During the Orlando Police quarterly awards Wednesday, Kissimmee police Chief Jeff O’Dell thanked the dozens of Orlando officers who responded to that call Aug. 18 and assisted in the aftermath.

“Many of you in this room are responsible for that healing,” said O’Dell, who served 27 years at the Orlando Police Department before joining Kissimmee’s agency.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being a part of this blue family,” he said.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina called O’Dell a “friend and a mentor.”

“He taught me everything I know,” he said.

Several Orlando officers were commended during the ceremony, including Officers Emily Moore and Danielle Torres, who were credited with saving the life of a drowning 7-year-old autistic boy July 12.

Mena Elassal also was recognized; earlier this year, while working as a Walgreens pharmacy intern, he found an unresponsive man in the parking lot of the store on East Colonial Drive.

After seeing that the man had stopped breathing and his face was turning blue, Elassal began trying to resuscitate him while paramedics were on their way.

The man, who was overdosing, was given a life-saving dose of Narcan by authorities.

Elassal was recognized with a Good Citizenship Award for his efforts. “He was given a second chance,” he said. “He was lucky.”