Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-May 27, 2009 Issue

Wyckoff May 27, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 17 Department announces promotions, commendations by John Koster Last week’s Wyckoff Township Committee meeting marked the changing of the guard as four police officers were promoted to senior posts and Chief Benjamin Fox and other officers were commended for valor or efficiency. The governing body also honored former Chief John Ydo and Captain Kenneth Hagedorn upon their retirement. Charles Van Dyke III was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. A former Midland Park police officer, Van Dyke joined the Wyckoff Police Department in 1984 and was promoted to sergeant in 1994. He has been recognized for a life-saving administration of CPR, saving occupants of a burning building in 2004 at the risk of his own life, and saving a 72-year-old individual in 1999. He holds a BS degree from William Paterson University and resides in Wyckoff with his wife, two sons, and a daughter. David Murphy, a police sergeant and chief of the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department, was also promoted to lieutenant. Murphy started his career with Wyckoff as a police dispatcher, became a police officer in 1996, and was promoted to sergeant in 2006. He has also been a DARE officer. Murphy is also the emergency management coordinator for the township and chief of the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department. He holds an AAS degree in police science from Bergen Community College and resides in Wyckoff with his wife and sons. Detective Joseph Soto, officer in charge of the detective bureau, was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He was appointed as a police officer in 1994 and placed in charge of the detective bureau in 2003. A resident of Westwood, where he lives with his wife and four sons, Soto has served as a DARE officer. He holds an AAS degree from Bergen Community College. Committeeman Rick Alnor, Sgt. Michael Ragucci, Sgt. Joseph Soto, Committeeman Dave Connolly, Lt. David Murphy, Police Chief John Ydo, Lt. Charles Van Dyke, Police Chief Ben Fox, Committeeman Rudy Boonstra and Committeeman Brian Scanlon. Patrolman Michael Ragucci, who joined the Wyckoff Police Department in 2000, was promoted to sergeant. Ragucci holds a BS degree from Penn State University with a major in administration of justice and a minor in sociology. He has been commended for his active enforcement of traffic, drug, and alcohol-related matters. He resides in North Haledon with his wife and daughter. The Wyckoff Township Committee also commended Chief Fox for taking charge of a road rage incident in which a motorist was deliberately ramming other cars. Fox arrested the individual after the man threw a bottle of bleach at Fox and then attempted to grab his gun. Fox hit the man with a flashlight to subdue him and was able to carry out the arrest despite intense resistance. The committee also commended Sergeant Robert Mackay, Patrolman Thomas Tully, and Patrolman Ryan Tenney for answering a distress call and preventing an attempted suicide in March. ��