Guiding Lights

John Flores, Carlos Garcia, Keith Weynandt
Building Services
Last year, Capt. L.B. Smith fatally shot himself while sitting at his desk in his office at police headquarters. After police officers had finished their investigation of the area, John Flores, Carlos Garcia, and Keith
Weynandt cleaned up the office.

“Mr. Weynandt and his staff went beyond the call of duty in performing a difficult task that enabled the personnel of the homicide division to return to work and begin the healing process,” wrote acting Chief J.L. Breshears. “I commend them for a job well done.”

Michael Corley
HPD
When Sgt. Michael Corley saw a Crown Equipment employee delivering items to the Skywood Market that had nothing to do with the market’s regular business, he began investigating, wrote Bill Davis, Crown’s security director in New Bremen, OH.

The items were stolen from his firm, Davis wrote. Corley’s actions stopped thefts that had been occurring for some time.

“As you know, theft by a trusted employee is extremely hard to detect,” Davis wrote. “Our sincere thanks to Sgt. Corley for going the extra mile to alert us of an internal theft problem.”

Ron Beasley, Leon Berryman, Nick Franklin, Leon Gauthier, Wayne Hallman, Tom Head, Foster Martinez, Noli Prieto, Marvin Sekula
Public Works & Engineering
Flooding Nov. 17 forced Mary Peldo to seek refuge at the city’s wastewater treatment plant on Beechnut Street. “The staff allowed me, my daughter and 10 other people, four of whom were children, to wait there for the water to subside.”

At 6 p.m., two employees drove a large truck to a nearby fast-food restaurant for fried chicken and biscuits for everyone, Peldo wrote. They wouldn’t accept money for their kindness.

Several times, Marvin Sekula checked the flooded area, Peldo wrote. “At 9:35 p.m., he told me I could get through. He was correct.

“This staff did everything they could to make our evening comfortable. I commend all of these gentlemen for their generosity and compassion,” Peldo wrote.

David Sauer
HPD
Sgt. David Sauer lives and volunteers in the Pine Brook neighborhood, wrote Doug Quillen. Twice in the past few months when he was off duty, Sauer saw juveniles breaking the law in a neighborhood park.

“He stopped their drug activity and arrested them,” Quillen wrote. “Our community is fortunate to have such an upstanding officer live here.”

Gregory Brown
HPD
High water stalled Leslie Collier’s car. When the water went down, her car still wouldn’t start, and the wrecker she called hadn’t arrived. “I was really frightened, afraid that a car would hit me,” Collier wrote.

That’s when Sgt. Gregory Brown drove up and took over.

“He didn’t pressure me to use a wrecker driver who pulled up and wanted twice as much as the one I was waiting for,” Collier wrote. Instead he pushed her car into a nearby parking lot and offered her a ride home.

“I didn’t want to leave my car, so he waited with me for the wrecker,” Collier wrote. When the wrecker came, it paused at the parking lot and drove off. Brown followed the wrecker, flagged him down, and brought him back.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” Collier wrote. “I didn’t see a halo, but he was my guardian angel that night.”