Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • July 27, 2011 Wyckoff Police officers, dispatchers receive commendations by John Koster The Wyckoff Township Committee and residents gave standing ovations to the four Wyckoff police officers, three police dispatchers, and absent officers from other towns who foiled a violent million-dollar robbery of Hartgers Jewelers on April 9. Wyckoff Sergeant Jack McEwan, Patrolman Thomas Tully, Patrol Officer Brenda Grosslinger, and Patrolman Ryan Tenney were given Exceptional Duty medals and letters of commendation for their direct confrontation with the fleeing felons, thought at the time to possibly be armed and known to have physically assaulted staff members and patrons at Hartgers. Dispatchers Matthew Fenkhart, Richard Carruthers, Left: Police Chief Benjamin Fox. Right: Police officers Ryan Tenney, Brenda Grosslinger, Thomas Tully and Sergeant Jack McEwan at the ceremony where the officers received Exceptional Duty Medals and letters of commendation. and Diane Fewkes, who coordinated the chase by Wyckoff and outside officers from police headquarters, also received letters of commendation in the action, which had all four offenders in custody shortly after they smashed the display cases, roughed up the staff and patrons, and fled. “Within 15 minutes, all the suspects were in custody,” said Police Chief Benjamin Fox. “It was a tremendous piece of police work.” Chief Fox and the township committee also approved letters of commendation for six Wyckoff officers who responded to the incident and provided backup, interrogation, and transportation to Bergen County Jail for the four suspects. Those officers included Lieutenant David Murphy, Sergeant Daniel Kellogg, Detective Sergeant Joseph Soto, Sergeant Michael Ragucci, Patrolman Peter Goodman, and Detective Michael Musto. The dispatchers rated a standing ovation, as did the officers who provided back-up and the out-of-town officers from Ridgewood, Midland Park, Franklin Lakes, Mahwah, Hawthorne, Glen Rock, and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department. “The community owes a debt of gratitude to every officer who participated in this arrest,” said Chief Fox. “After the report of the robbery, the suspects were captured and stolen property was recovered in less than 15 minutes. The efforts of each officer were exceptional, and they did their jobs without concern for their own personal safety. Besides the fact that the suspects responsible were captured, more important is the fact that each officer went home safely to (his or her) family at the end of the shift. As the chief of police, it is my honor to recognize the efforts of everyone involved in solving this crime.” Chief Fox noted that, while the chase was going on, the officers never knew whether they would be looking down the barrel of a gun as they confronted the fugitives. No weapons were recovered, but several of the suspects had extensive criminal records. The robbery and chase began as three masked men (continued on page 15)