Trooper wins Kiwanis Officer of the Month

Ithaca, New York, Journal
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090519/NEWS01/905190345/1126/NEWS/Trooper+wins+Kiwanis+officer+of+the+month

ITHACA - Domestic violence calls, according to Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson, are potentially dangerous situations that demand competent police response.

This level of competence is one reason state Trooper Mikhail Wolchetsky won this month's Kiwanis Club Frank G. Hammer Officer of the Month Award, according to Wilkinson and state police officials. Wolchetsky received the award, along with accolades from his superiors, at a ceremony Monday at Kendal at Ithaca.

At the ceremony, Wilkinson and others praised Wolchetsky's response to a domestic violence call at a Newfield residence in December.

When Wolchetsky and a Tompkins County sheriff's deputy arrived at the residence, they found an intoxicated, screaming 30-year-old man “striking the door of the residence and threatening to break it down,” state police Sgt. Susan E. Lockyear said in a letter recommending Wolchetsky for the award.

Though the man “violently resisted,” they struggled with him and arrested him, she said. Wolchetsky interviewed a woman at the residence and discovered that the man had been arguing with her, and that she managed to lock him outside.

“The defendant then broke the living room window and the victim went outside and attempted to calm him down,” Lockyear said. “The suspect placed her in a headlock and began to choke her.”

She broke free and locked herself back in the residence, Lockyear said, and the man was trying to break in when Wolchetsky arrived.

After receiving the award, accolades and applause, Wolchetsky thanked the club and state police for the award and stressed that Tompkins County enjoys a reputation for safety because of the efforts of its law enforcers - troopers, deputies and police officers.

“Domestic violence calls are some of the most unpredictable and dangerous calls a police officer can go to,” he said in remarks after the ceremony.

With the help of a local church, he and his family came to Tompkins County from Ukraine about 13 years ago, he added.

“This is the best country in the world,” he told club members and law-enforcement officials gathered for the ceremony.