Police promotional, awards ceremony is tonight PDF Print E-mail
Mayor Scott Avedisian will join police officials and the Board of Public Safety for the department’s promotional and awards ceremony tonight at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

The oath of office will be administered to:

•    Joseph C. Coffey and Thomas C. Hannon, who are being promoted to the rank of captain;

•    Jamie M. Calise, Andrew P. Tainsh, and Rick J. Rathbun, as lieutenants:

•    Michael G. Lima; Detective Ryan T. Sornberger, and John V. Kelly, Jr. as sergeants;

•    Lucas Pedro, Jeremy Pineau, Patrick Smith, and Hovsep (Joseph) Sarkisian as probationary officers

In addition, citizen commendations will be given to the following:

•    Sara Alan Mills, for assisting the Warwick Police and Fire Departments on September 22. A man was swept away by the current as he and three friends were attempting to secure their boat. The man, a weak swimmer, quickly began to struggle. Mills was in the area with her family when she saw the man drowning, and, together with an unidentified passerby, jumped into the water and pulled the man to shore.

•    Rick Moore, who ran over to help a stranger who had pulled his car over to the side of the road and was attempting to resuscitate his father. Moore began CPR, doing chest compressions while instructing the son to do rescue breaths. The man regained a pulse while still at the scene, and was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was conscious and in stable condition two days later. The incident occurred on June 21 on Sandy Lane.

•    Richard Wandler, who successfully detained a 22-year-old man who had broken into his car on October 22. When the man attempted to run from the scene, Wandler chased, subdued and detained him until officers arrived. Police said that Wandler’s “vigilance, quick action and bravery resulted in the capture of an offender who would otherwise have been left to further menace the community.”

•    Rick Murphy, for directing police to the location of a suspect after a robbery at the Citizens Bank at Wilde’s Corner. A postal worker, Murphy was on his route when he was approached by an officer asking if he had seen anyone matching the suspect’s description. Murphy told the officer that the woman had run into a home on Alfred Street and that Murphy knew the woman didn’t reside there. Two suspects who were hiding inside the house were arrested.

Jailer Rick Costa will be given the Civilian Appreciation Award, for saving the life of a prisoner who attempted suicide by cutting a string from his waistband and tying it around his neck. Costa heard a commotion coming from the cell, saw the prisoner was in distress, removed the string and helped to revive him.