Metro honors officers for their service to community

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 | 8:56 a.m.

Metro Police awarded honors Tuesday to individuals commending their contributions to the department.

Officer Joel Cranford was awarded a Medal of Honor, and Officer William Guesman was awarded a Medal of Honor and Purple Heart for capturing two men who were sought in the robbery of a Bank of America on New Year's Eve last year.

Two men were spotted in an apartment parking lot about a mile from the bank shortly after the robbery. When the officers tried to arrest them, Taylor Maxie ran and jumped over a wall.

The second man, Robert Nusbaum, fired a shot that struck Guesman in the left leg, then got out of the car and pointed his gun at the officers. Although he was hurt, Guesman fired his weapon, as did Cranford, and Nusbaum was killed. A coroner's inquest found the officers' actions justified, and Maxie pleaded guilty to burglary and robbery and is scheduled to be sentenced July 31.

A Medal of Honor was awarded to Lt. Lawrence Spinosa for negotiating the release of a 7 year-old boy who was grabbed in front of the New Frontier hotel on New Year's Eve last year. A man held a knife to the boy's throat and threatened to kill him.

After Spinosa negotiated with the man for 15 minutes, the man released the boy but was still armed with a knife and resisted officers. The officers used pepper spray to wrestle him into custody.

Unit Meritorious Service Awards were given to these individuals for helping Spinosa while he negotiated, providing crowd control and other support:

Lt. Jim Moses, Sgts. Robert Dante, Albert Bechyne, Mathew McCarthy, Pricilla Green, Ted Lee; Detectives Darren Paul Slaninka, Ruben Hood, Daniel Stopka, Ronald Miller, David Scholtes, Russell Jensen, Stephanie Parks, Mike Szeles, Jerome Milton, Carolynne Wolf, Brian Mildebrandt, James Mizusaki, Kidd Andrade, Melissa Wilds, John Gorski, Russell Abbondandolo, Timothy Aiken, Jack Clements, Steve Devore and Timothy Purney, and corrections Officers Matthew Zucker and Shallimar Pepera.

Lifesaving Awards were giving to Officers Christopher Jordan, Jeremy Hendricks and William Pollock.

In December Jordan helped rescue a woman from a possible suicide jump at Vegas Towers.

As the woman placed her right leg over the railing, Jordan grabbed her from behind and held on to her as she tried to struggle away.

Hendricks and Pollock performed CPR on a 17-month-old baby who was not breathing. Pollock held the baby and coached Hendricks as he performed finger compressions to the baby's chest. They found the baby's pulse and monitored the baby's breathing until paramedics arrived and took the child to University Medical Center.

Analyst Margot Wenko was honored for exemplary service for creating a Home and Neighborhood Disaster and Safety Strategies handbook that helps the community and police department prepare for a possible terrorist attack in Las Vegas. The handbook was distributed in January in copies of the Sprint phone book.

Committee members who helped put together the 23rd International Asian Organized Crime Conference held in April 2001 were also awarded with exemplary service. They were Capt. Mike McClary, Sgts. Gayland Hammack, Steve Naegle and William Scott, Detectives Ray Brotherson, Louie Detiberiis, Jason Hahn and Dave Kallas, and civilians Julie Bauers, Annette Herndon, Janet Duran, Dena Stout and Roberta Whitley.

The community service award went to Corrections Officer Thomas Taycher for his commitment to helping children with special needs. In 1987 he organized the Challenger Little League of Southern Nevada, which allows children with disabilities to particpate in a special form of baseball.

In 1990 Taycher and his wife created the Nevada Parents Educating Parents organization, which supports families of children with disabilities. Taycher also helped collaborate a partnership between Metro Police and the group to start the "Shop with a Cop" program. As a Metro Police representative for the Injured Police Officers organization, Taycher helped raise more than $20,000 for children with disabilities.