Jacob Cohn Photo
Officer Diego Quintero with the Medal of Valor.
New Haven police officer Diego Quintero was off duty, talking with a partner near the intersection of State Route 34 and Interstate 91, when he heard a series of loud bangs. After rushing to the scene, Quintero was confronted with a horrific sight: a pair of cars, engulfed in flames. Quintero could hear people inside the cars, trapped.
His response?
“We just decided to start pulling people out of their cars before they exploded,” Quintero said.
For his actions, Quintero was awarded the Medal of Valor, one of hundreds of officers honored at the Department of Police Services Awards Ceremony Monday evening at Wilbur Cross High School. The ceremony, the first in several years, presented awards earned between 2007 and 2010.
During the ceremony, Police Chief Frank Limon and Mayor John DeStefano praised the “outstanding work” of the award recipients and all New Haven police officers.
“It is fitting that they need not be merely anonymous heroes, but can be recognized for their courage and gallantry,” Officer David Hartman said.
The ceremony gave special recognition to two police officers: Officer Diane Gonzalez, who was awarded the Police Cross for “sustain[ing] serious physical injury in the line of duty,” and Sergeant Dario Scott Aponte, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for “perform[ing] an outstanding act at the risk of his or her own life.” Both officers’ families accepted the awards on their behalf. Aponte was killed and Gonzalez injured in September 2008 when their police cruisers collided. Both were responding to the same call.
Quintero, one of 16 officers awarded the Medal of Valor, said that the car crash he responded to had occurred because of a vehicle speeding in the wrong direction on the highway. Though he had to make the decision to put his life on the line in “a hundredth of a second,” Quintero claims it was just part of his job.
“You make these decisions and that’s what we signed up for,” he said.
Officer Richard Gonzalez with his Certificate of Commedation.
Officer Richard Gonzalez, awarded a Certificate of Commendation, was honored for work performed during the course of his normal duties. A motor vehicle stop — the driver of a car did not have a license — led to more than he bargained for.
As the driver exited the vehicle, a bag of marijuana dropped from his clothing onto the ground, Gonzalez said. While the driver claimed that the bag “wasn’t his,” further inspection of the driver and his passengers revealed more marijuana as well as cocaine — and a handgun concealed under one passenger’s clothing. All were arrested.
Other honorees were honored for a variety of events. Detective Carlos Roman received two certificates of commendation and a certificate of meritorious service, as well as a citation for his unit. He said that because the awards were put on hold for a long period of time, he is not sure of the specific events that earned him his individual awards.
However, Roman knew exactly how the unit citation was earned. His Special Investigations Unit, which deals with sex crimes, has investigated juvenile cases that were “very strenuous,” he said.
Other officers honored Monday night included Rob Levy, Roy Davis, Mark Foster, Jeff Goodwin, Steve McMorris, Chris Senior, Phil McKnight, Lisa Wexler, Edrick Agosto, Bertram Etiene, Richard Miller, John Magoveny, Steven Teague, and Joanne Peterson. (Click on hyperlinks to read their “Cop of the Week” stories.)