Heroes honored for their actions
Published: May 25, 2007
Kathleen Lannon doesn’t consider herself a hero.
Sure, she sprinted from a grocery store and chased down a purse-snatcher. And yes, she was thrown from the suspect’s car as she tried to get inside and landed hard on the pavement.
But even though she still has the scar above her right eye from where her glasses cut her, by her own estimation, she is not a hero.
“If something like that happens again, I hope my feet stay planted to the floor,” she said last night.
Or, she might get involved again.
“I help people when I can,” Lannon said. “If my pocketbook was stolen, I’d want someone to help.”
Lannon was one of four Citizen Heroes honored last night at the 19th annual PROCOPS Awards Banquet at Touch of Class II here. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office has been hosting this awards banquet since 1988 to recognize outstanding police officers, law enforcement agencies and citizens.
Like Lannon, Kimberly Clark insists she didn’t do anything special the morning she encountered a school bus flipped onto its side. She and other passing motorists raced to pull injured, bleeding children out of the bus.
Clark, a teacher with the state Juvenile Justice Commission in Camden who holds a master’s degree in special education, sat with an autistic boy to keep him calm until his father arrived.
“God put me in the right place at the right time,” said Clark. “In that split second I was given a choice, as we are all given a choice, to wait for someone else or to act. I made the choice to do it.”
Award winners and the acts for which they were honored are:
Prosecutor’s Citizen Hero Awards:
* Kimberly Clark of Pennsauken for assisting at the scene of an accident in Willingboro involving a school bus that was transporting young children.
* Evesham residents Charles Yoos and Kathleen Lannon for helping to detain a purse-snatcher until police officers arrived.
* Jeffrey Zaborski of Brooklyn, N.Y., who contacted police after he saw a man kill a 75-year-old Maryland resident in the parking lot of a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop in Mount Laurel. Zaborski then followed the man on the turnpike until state troopers arrived to pursue the suspect.
Prosecutor’s Law Enforcement Officer Commendations:
* Florence police Detectives Albert Jacoby and Jonathan Greenberg in recognition of numerous successful narcotics and criminal investigations, including one involving a man who was charged with tampering with evidence for hiding drug paraphernalia at the scene of a fatal overdose.
* Riverton Officer Thomas Merino and Palmyra Officers John Quigg Jr. and Omar Kendall in recognition of the bravery they showed during a domestic-violence incident involving a knife-wielding man. During the incident, the man attacked the officers with a knife and was fatally shot by Merino. The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office investigated the case and determined the use of deadly force was justified.
* Riverton police Chief Robert Norcross and Officer Gregory Willis for assisting in the delivery of a baby in July at an apartment.
* Riverside Lt. Louis Fisher in recognition of his work as the Riverside Police Department’s sole detective in successfully solving several criminal cases, including the attack of a woman by her former husband outside a church and two attempted rapes. Fisher also helped with the rescue of five people from a burning home last year.
* Burlington County Sheriff’s Officer Anthony Wiesniewski for his actions while off-duty in assisting police in Burlington Township in the investigation of a robbery.
* Edgewater Park Officer Thomas Lewis for negotiating the surrender of an armed man threatening suicide.
* Willingboro Detective Edwin Walker for the successful investigation of the kidnapping and assault of a 61-year-old woman.
* Springfield Officer Adam Cowperthwait for rescuing a person attempting to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in a garage.
Prosecutor’s Unit Excellence Award:
* The United States Secret Service, Philadelphia Field Office.
* The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner and Sexual Assault Response Team units of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor’s Special Recognition Award:
* Renee Borstad, director of the Burlington County Office of Consumer Affairs, for her years of service in protecting the public from consumer fraud and identity theft.
* John Sackett, radio technician supervisor with the Burlington County Department of Public Safety, for his work in assisting police departments in the transition to the county’s new, upgraded radio system.
* The Burlington City Police Department chaplains.
Gerald P. Drummond Career Recognition Award:
* Burlington County Sheriff Jean Stanfield for significant contributions to law enforcement throughout her career.
Richard L. Barbour Scholarship Award:
* David Henderson, a second-year law student at the Rutgers University School of Law in Camden, for his high character, academic achievement and demonstrated desire to pursue a career as a prosecuting attorney.
Burlington County Chiefs Scholarship Awards:
* Pemberton Borough Officer Michael Zielinski, who is pursuing his doctorate in nursing.
* Chelsea Kehoe, an Evesham resident who is a senior at Cherokee High School. She is the daughter of Medford Police Chief James Kehoe.
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