MIDDLEBURY — It was on July 7 of last year that Middlebury Police Sgt. Mike Christopher was called to the Champlain Farms store on Court Street amid reports of a man behaving irrationally and threatening to shoot people.
Christopher found the man, and it was what he didn’t do next that landed him on a recent commendation list put together by the Middlebury Police Department.
Christopher used what his supervisors said was remarkable restraint in getting the suspect to lie on the ground and be taken into custody, in spite of the fact that the sergeant had been given adequate justification to shoot the man. Christopher had his service weapon trained on a man who at one point reached into what appeared to be a holster in his belt to retrieve an object (that turned out to be a cell phone). He at another point also reached into his backpack — all while yelling and screaming.
Christopher’s handling of the situation stands in sharp contrast to the deadly resolution of some other, high-profile arrests that have made headlines in other parts of the country.
“At a time when police officers around the country are involved in a number of tragedies, most officers go about their duties quietly and with little acclaim,” Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley said.
With that in mind, Hanley has made a point of spotlighting his officers’ exemplary actions to give them some deserved recognition. Last week he announced his latest round of commendation recipients, which along with Christopher includes Officer Chris Mason, who serves as the Middlebury’s school resources officer; Sgt. Vegar Boe; Officer Darrin Hinterneder; Officer Connor Sousa; and Officer Nathan Hayes.
“I’m pretty proud of the work they do,” Hanley said. “People should know about it.”
What follows is a brief description of each of the events for which the Middlebury officers were commended during the past year:
•  On May 13, 2015, at 11:42 p.m., Sgt. Boe and Officer Hayes went to downtown Middlebury to find a despondent, suicidal patient who had just been discharged from Porter Hospital. Police learned the patient in question had attempted suicide in the past and had threatened to jump in front of cars. Boe located the patient on the Cross Street Bridge. When he and Hayes approached, the patient began to straddle the bridge railing overlooking Otter Creek in anticipation of jumping to the rocky shore below that “would most likely have led to a fatality, had they succeeded in leaping,” the commendation reads.
But Boe wrapped his arms around the person and removed them from the edge of the railing, endangering himself in the process. Hayes also assisted in restraining the person, who made another escape attempt while claiming they “wanted to die,” but was successfully restrained.
Boe and Hayes have been awarded a Life Saving Award for their efforts.
•  On Oct. 2, 2014, Officer Sousa investigated a report of a prescription pad being fraudulently used at a local animal care facility. Sousa determined that, based on a dog’s name used in the fraud attempt, a tenant at a residence was attempting to buy a controlled substance through an Internet company, using a fake prescription. Sousa was able to clue in on his suspect and gained a confession following an interview. The investigation led to the arrest of the suspect and subsequent guilty plea in court. The department conferred on Sousa a “merit recognition” for his work.
•  Officer Hinterneder last year led all department officers in “self-initiated activity,” which included traffic stops and contacts, as well as finding and reporting security risks at businesses during the overnight shift. Hinterneder’s efforts reduced drunken driving and criminal activity and “fostered a preventative and deterrent presence in Middlebury on the overnight shift,” according to Hanley. For this, Hinterneder received a supervisor’s recognition award.
•  Mason received two supervisor’s recognition awards during this latest round of commendations.
Last year, he was credited with physically restraining a combative Middlebury Union High School student who had allegedly disposed of some marijuana in the school bathroom. Mason ultimately turned the 17-year-old over to a grandparent.
The parent of a student who witnessed the incident alerted police supervisors to Mason’s handling of the situation:
“In the words of my daughter: ‘Officer Mason is so cool — he busted a kid for pot, the kid had bags and bags of pot and tried to punch Officer Mason, so Officer Mason just restrained him and handcuffed him while talking to him in his nice, calm British accent. His voice and actions just don’t go together in that situation, but it works cause he stays so calm.’ So thank you Officer Mason for earning the respect of my daughter.”
And this past February, Mason was called to Middlebury Union Middle School on a report of an out-of-control student. The student was taken for mental health counseling at the Counseling Service of Addison County, and Mason also responded there. According to a commendation letter written by the attending CSAC clinician, “(Mason’s) calm presence helped tremendously in a situation infused with emotional volatility in the student and both parents. I was also deeply appreciative of (his) skill and patience in engaging and drawing out an adolescent who arrived at our office in such an elevated state of anger and distress. (Mason) played a large part in a successful resolution for this young man and his family.”
Mason was appreciative of the kudos.
“It is always very satisfying to get recognition,” he said. “It shows me the community is very engaged and noticing what is happening.”
The recognition comes in many forms, Mason said, including comments from students and adults in, and outside of, the schools. And it is not unusual for Mason to eventually get recognition from those who he has had to cite for various infractions.
“As a consequence of (enforcement), there is sometimes a connection,” Mason said. “The best part of my job is connecting with people in the community and especially in the schools I deal with.”
As Hanley noted: “Police work isn’t just catching the ‘bad guys.’”
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].