Delaware State Police Names 2018 Trooper, Civilian of the Year
Delaware State Police Superintendent Colonel Nathaniel McQueen Jr. announced the winners of the annual Trooper of the Year and Civilian of the Year awards.
Trooper First Class Christopher Solda was named Trooper of the Year. Based out of Troop 3 in Camden-Wyoming in Kent County, TFC Solda was commended by his first line supervisor, Sgt. Scott Horsman who said, “TFC Solda not only solves cases; he catches criminals in the act of committing crimes.” The distinction is awarded based on the Core Values of the Division: Honor, Integrity, Courage, Loyalty, Attitude, Discipline and Service. DSP officials say it was through TFC Solda’s work that significant arrests were made and that he excelled in furthering investigations into criminal activity related to weapons offenses/shootings/seizures, human trafficking, theft, drug crimes and fraudulent identification cards.
TFC Solda was also presented with the Randall Armistead Trooper of the Year Award on behalf of the Delaware State Troopers Association.
Among the nominees for Trooper of the Year were TFC Anthony Desiderio, Cpl/2 Anthony Pantalone, TFC Michael Young, TFC Casey Bredigan, TFC Nicholas Mongiello, Trooper Robert Harris, Cpl. Chase Petrella, Cpl. Matthew Morgan and Cpl/3 Lawrence Walther.
The Civilian of the Year award, which is given to Delaware State Police civilian employees who deliver exceptional service as identified by the employee’s performance evaluations, a consistent record of such service through their years of employment and recognition by their peers for outstanding character and integrity. This year, Print Examiner Anthony DiNardo of the State Bureau of Identification was awarded Civilian of the Year. DSP officials say DiNardo received and analyzed 1,534 latent prints in 2018, making positive identifications on 658 of the submissions.
Among the nominees for the civilian distinction were Theresa Daniels, Maria Gagnon, Debra Hughes, Heather Maslauskas, Nicole Reed and Dennis Swain.
In addition to the Trooper and Civilian of the Year, the following Troopers were also presented with the following awards:
Superintendent’s Citation: Sgt. Paul Doherty, Sgt. Andrew Gatti, Cpl. Keith McCabe, Cpl/3 Kevin Mack, Trooper Michelle Galiani, Cpl. Paige Haley, Cpl/1 John Klemash, Trooper Brandon Triantos,
Valor: Cpl/3 Matthew Blakeman, Cpl. Sean Callaway, Cpl. Patrick Jackson
Exceptional Performance: Cpl/3 Michael Branch, Cpl/2 Brett Creasey, TFC Justin Decowski, Cpl. Sean Devenney, Cpl. Michael Lilley, Cpl/2 Amy Lloyd, Cpl. Thomas Macauley, Cpl/2 Anthony Pantalone, TFC William Wallace, Cpl. Aaron Blair, Cpl. Zachary Bonniwell, Officer Brayan Chavez-Rivera (Milton PD), Sgt. Brett Cordrey, Trooper Dean Johnson, Trooper Matt Skidmore, Cpl. Brandon Yencer, Trooper Robert Harris, Cpl/3 Robert Kunicki, Cpl/1 Eugene Miller, TFC Paul Taylor
Lifesaving: TFC Janeika Cole, TFC Michael Young, Trooper Joshua Cary, Cpl/3 Gary Fournier, Cpl/3 Justin Galloway, Trooper Jordan Smith, TFC Robert Spanier, TFC Elizabeth Bruette, Cpl/2 Greg Cartwright, Trooper Irina Celpan, Cpl/3 Charles Fidler, Cpl. Kyle Ogden, TFC Zack Spudis, TFC Corliss Talley, TFC Kyle Taylor, Cpl. Corey Bastianelli, Cpl. John Cullen (Greenwood PD), TFC Jennifer Hastings, Sgt. Thomas Jefferson (Sussex County EMS), Trooper Matt Skidmore, Trooper Herney Tovar-Quintero, TFC William Wallace, Trooper Sarah Bailey, TFC Jason Berry, Cpl/3 Matt Blakeman, Cpl. Megan Burch, Cpl/2 Brian Page, TFC Dustin Hamilton, Theresa Roark (Suscom)
