On Friday, March 8, 2013 the Fort Myers Police Department honored several employees at a monthly award ceremony. FMPD strives every day to not only protect and serve the residents of the City of Fort Myers, but to make it a better place to live. “It is our policy to recognize employees of exemplary performance of their duties” said Chief Baker. “We appreciate their heroics and the hard work that these men and women put in each day.”
Officer Christopher Scavo was honored for his tenacity while assisting the Special Investigations Group with a recent Search Warrant. Officer Scavo was asked to search the yard of the home for evidence. For nearly two hours Officer Scavo conducted a thorough search of the backyard. Officer Scavo located a buried firearm, 30 grams of base cocaine, and 8 grams of morphine in pill form. These items were scattered around the yard and placed in such locations such as under dog houses, under pieces of scrap wood, and along the fence posts. If not for Officer Scavo’s determination and persistence these illegal items might not have been located and would have remained on the street available for distribution. Officer Scavo was commended for his hard work and strong personal commitment to his profession. He is now fondly known as “dig dug”.
Officer Walter Mickey, Officer Jason Petaccio, Officer William Schulte, Officer Philip Youngblood, Officer Sean Heavener, Officer Jack Millard, Officer Scott Newbury, Officer Richard Carpenter, Officer Brandon Birch and Officer Ed Quinn were nominated for their hard work and commitment to the Violent Crimes Task Force. On February 7th the officers observed a vehicle parked in front of a fire lane with a posted no parking sign. The officers made contact with the driver and identified him as Antonio Hall. Hall had active warrants through SarasotaCounty. Hall was arrested without incident and held without bond and transferred back to SarasotaCounty. Later in the month, a sixteen year old girl was shot by a known suspect. The Task Force gathered intelligence on the suspect. They learned the suspect had an active felony pick up for his arrest. With further investigation, the officers traveled to various locations throughout the city contacting relatives and associates of the suspect. Approximately three hours later, the suspect was in police custody without incident. The officers were commended for their hard work in removing criminals from City streets.
Community Service Aides David Dietz and Brandon Averill were honored for their meticulous efforts in lifting fingerprints. Their preliminary investigations build solid foundations for cases and have led to several arrests. Specifically noted was an arrest in a recent burglary. CSA Dietz processed the crime scene in which jewelry, coins and electronics were taken from a residence. The fingerprints were submitted to the Fort Myers Crime Scene Unit for comparison. The Crime Scene Unit identified the suspect and he was arrested and charged with burglary and grand theft. CSA Dietz and Averill were commended for their commitment to the department and the community.
Shelly Flynn Public Information Officer 239-321-7721