Troopers from Troop K Receive Service Awards

State Police Troopers from Troop K in Colchester received awards for service during a ceremony on Wednesday, November 29, at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy in Meriden.

Twice a year, the Connecticut State Police honors Troopers who demonstrated bravery and outstanding service in the line of duty.  The ceremony also honors men and women serving in local and federal law enforcement agencies and those serving as first responders, as well as civilians.  Award winners received medals and certificates from Department of Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle and State Police Colonel Edward Lynch.

Awards are presented in several categories, including:

*     The Meritorious Service Medal is awarded to any person who renders service with a high degree of alertness, perseverance and superior judgment in the performance of a difficult task resulting in the protection of life, recovery of property, the prevention of – or solving of – a major crime or the apprehension of an armed or dangerous person.

*     The Lifesaving Award is presented to any person who saves a human life or makes a valiant attempt to save a life.

*      The Outstanding Service Award is given to any person who successfully performs an extreme, complex or difficult investigation. The person also may demonstrate exceptional skill or ingenuity in the apprehension of a wanted person, provide outstanding service to the public and or continuously achieves excellence in performance of duties over an extended period of time.

*      The Unit Citation is awarded to members of a department, a command or group who combine their resources to achieve success in an investigation or event. The citation recognizes exceptional collective efforts.

   Troop K barracks of the Connecticut State Police, located in Colchester, is proud have several individual award winners from the troop.   

Troopers Timothy Bettencourt, Brian Kilcomons and Joyes Narcisse On March 8, 2006, Troopers from Troop K responded to a residence in Lebanon, where a man was holding his estranged wife at gunpoint.  The man discharged the handgun, striking the female victim’s vehicle. After physically assaulting the victim, the suspect stole her vehicle and fled the residence still armed with the handgun. Troopers Timothy Bettencourt, Brian Kilcomons and Joyes Narcisse located the suspect in Salem.  He was armed with a loaded handgun, brass knuckles and a quantity of cocaine.  After a brief standoff with the suspect, the Troopers took him into custody without incident. The Troopers were presented with Meritorious Service awards.

Trooper First Class Lawrence Slyman On May 6, 2006, Trooper First Class Lawrence Slyman responded to a retail store in Windham to assist with a reported larceny in which the suspect had fled into a nearby wooded area.  After an extensive search of the area, the suspect could not be located.  Trooper Slyman observed the suspect on foot in the area of Route 66.  Trooper Slyman became involved in a foot pursuit of the suspect. Despite being injured while gaining control of the suspect, Trooper Slyman was able to place the suspect under arrest.  He earned an Outstanding Service award.

Sergeant Eric Cooke, Trooper First Class Randall Conway, Trooper First Class John Thompson, Trooper First Class Kevin Miller, Trooper Brian Kilcomons, Trooper Jeffrey Brunoli, Trooper Ryan Luther, Trooper Joyes Narcisse  On December 29, 2005, two individuals entered an occupied residence with the intent of stealing power tools.  Inside the residence was a terrified victim who had called 911 and then locked herself in a room. Within minutes, Troopers from Troop K arrived, surrounded the house and took a lone male into custody.  A second male had fled in a vehicle. Troopers from Troop E located the second suspect in Jewett City and took him into custody.  The quick and efficient action of all the Troopers involved resulted in the arrest of two determined criminals and in protecting the victim from any possible harm. They all received a Unit Citation award for their work.

Sergeant Stephen Ostroski, Trooper First Class Kevin Reed, Trooper First Class Michael Hassett, Trooper First Class James Tilley, Trooper First Class Joe Marsh, Trooper First Class Denise Sevigny, Trooper Kevin Moore and Trooper Kevin Cook On September 15, 2006, Troop K received a 911 phone call from a male in Hebron who said he was going to shoot it out with police.  Sergeant Stephen Ostroski responded, as well as Trooper First Class Kevin Reed, Trooper First Class Michael Hassett, Trooper First Class James Tilley, Trooper First Class Joe Marsh, Trooper First Class Denise Sevigny, Trooper Kevin Moore and Trooper Kevin Cook.  The man was located and surrounded by the responding Troopers.  The man removed a handgun from his waist, pointed it at the ground and taunted the Troopers to shoot him.         

The suspect ignored multiple commands to drop the weapon.  Sgt. Stephen Ostroski was closest to the suspect and saw an opportunity to disarm him when the suspect turned his back to him.  Sgt. Ostroski immediately ran a short distance and tackled the suspect, who was arrested without incident.  For this incident, Sgt. Ostroski earned a Meritorious Service award and the seven other Troopers received a Unit Citation.

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