Police salute officers’ heroism
DANBURY — One sergeant was off-duty when he jumped into the pond with two passersby to rescue a young woman trapped in her half-submerged Jeep, and was bleeding from her head after a bad accident.
Another officer pressed a towel firmly against a slit throat and saved the life of a young man who had tried to kill himself with a knife.
Other officers were on the trail of a stolen car and wound up chasing suspects through a cemetery, leading to arrests that were connected to other stolen vehicles.
Those stories and 16 other accounts of arrests, averted suicides and lifesaving actions were highlighted Thursday during the Danbury Police Department’s annual awards ceremony.
A total of 38 police officers and three civilians were singled out for awards stemming from 19 cases of merit. Fourteen of those officers had two or more awards, including five officers each who earned three awards.
“The chief and I are incredibly proud of the hard work these officers do for the city as well as the residents who kicked in and helped out,” said Mayor Mark Boughton. “Today is an opportunity for the department to shine and for us to show how proud we are of the hard work it does each and every day.”
The awards ceremony followed an outdoor memorial service on Thursday that featured a solemn playing of taps by the son of an officer who was killed on his way to work in 2010.
The solemn notes of a lone horn from Matthew Hassiak were in honor of his father, Donald Hassiak, and other officers whose names are engraved at Public Safety Memorial Park, across the street from the police station on Main Street.
Police officers and families gathered with city leaders during the late morning service to sing the national anthem, pray, and listen to “Amazing Grace” by the Stephen P. Driscoll Memorial Pipe Band.
The department’s honor guard also lowered flags to half-staff, and fired a 21-gun salute.
It was the second time this week that the police department’s honor guard fired a salute.
On Monday, the city said goodbye to retired Capt. George Johnson during a funeral and burial with full honors.
The police department’s 35th annual awards ceremony followed the service.
Boughton and the department’s top officers commended police work that averted car thefts, drug
deals, car break-ins, robberies, burglaries and the disapearance of 100 laptops from Danbury Hospital.
Officials also recounted heroic attempts to save lives, including one late June afternoon when offduty Detective Sgt. Adam Marcus stopped on Ball Pond Road where a Jeep had launched into the pond.
Marcus and two civilians — Christopher DiMauro and Danielle LoMedico — jumped into the pond to save the 17-year-old driver, who was bleeding from the head and screaming because she was trapped.
“Detective Sgt. Marcus and Mr. DiMauro had to climb into the vehicle’s side and pull the victim up through the passenger’s side window to free her,” the account reads in the awards book. “Without the immediate responsive action by them, this accident could have had a tragic ending.”
Marcus received a lifesaving medal. DiMauro and LoMedico received the department’s civilian award.