Police officers receive awards for bravery shown during shooting
ELKHART — Police officers Cpl. Paul Vandenburg and Ptl. Ethan Pasternak were honored by the Elkhart Rotary Club during the 9th annual Rotary Club First Responder Luncheon at the Matterhorn.
The officers were given the Rotary International Life Saving Award for their actions that stopped a gunman during the fatal Jan. 27 shooting at the Martin's Super Market on East Jackson Boulevard. The officers are still recovering from their injuries, Police Chief Dan Milanese said.
'I can guarantee you that both Paul and Ethan had no premonition of being able to stand up here and receive accolades from you when they went into the face of danger,' Milanese said. 'They were not doing that to serve themselves and they'll be the first ones to feel uncomfortable when there's a camera facing [them], asking them about what they did and getting the awards.'
It was unknown when the officers will return to the force. Vandenburg and Pasternak chose not to speak at the event but did receive the awards presented to them by SpartanNash representatives.
Milanese said when it comes to service, the police officers aim to serve others and not themselves. It is incredible how the officers serve the community day in and day out, despite what is going on in their lives, he said.
'I want to thank the Elkhart Police Department for being such a strong partner to our stores in the community,' said Sarah Brown, a representative from SpartanNash. 'It's sad to say that we've gone through two tragedies together, but it's a great feeling to know that we're safe with the Elkhart Police Department by our stores to protect our associates and our community.'
The luncheon also honored the lives of 19-year-old Martin's employee Annasue Rocha and 49-year-old customer Benjamin Jeffrey, who were killed in the shooting. The man who started shooting in the store, 54-year-old Juan Sanchez, was killed by police outside the store.
Megan Erwin, chief of staff in the mayor's office, spoke on how the tragedy personally affected her.
'In 2014, I was woken up by my stepmom because my stepsister had been shot and killed at the Martin's in the other tragedy, so this has a very deep and personal meaning for me,' Erwin said. 'I really appreciate seeing the officers stand up, but I also know that every time that they're standing up to accept the award, they are reliving what happened.'
Erwin also sent along a thank you to the officers from Mayor Rod Roberson who was out of town and could not attend the event.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
'We were disgusted' Civil Rights activists call for Tyler Police resignations
TYLER, Texas (KETK)– Texas Civil Rights activists said in Thursday press conference that they demand the resignation of the police chief, the termination of the officers involved in the incident and others in the department. VIDEO: Tyler PD releases bodycam footage after woman discharges officer's gun during arrest Civil Rights activists Quanell X and Candice Matthews were deeply disturbed watching the video of Brianna Erwin's arrest on Mother's Day. 'We were disgusted on how law enforcement pretty much did this sister the way that they did which was excessive use of force,' activist Candice Matthews said. X and Matthews called for Chief Jimmy Toler's resignation, the termination of the officers involved and Toler's leadership team. Chief Toler stated he supports the actions of his officers. He added that his officers are trained to increase restraint when a suspect increases their resistance. 'When you look at her face, she has a huge black eye on her face. When you watch the video you see them punching and punching and putting their knees in the back and just straddling this sister,' activist Quanell X said. Tyler PD said during the struggle, Erwin managed to fire a gun shot from the holster of the officer. Toler said to deescalate the situation the officer was seen giving Erwin a 'closed hand strike.' 'It was impossible for Erwin to fire the officer's weapon,' Mathews said. 'It being a level three retention holster, the level three retention holster has three levels in order to move that gun out of that holster. In order for her, and she was tussling the way she was doing. She's not an expert to know that. So based on that video, from what we've seen, is that it appears that the officer shot that gun, not her.' For the first time in more than 20 years the Tyler Police Department released body cam footage during an active investigation to put down rumors that the gun was fired by the officer, according to the chief. 'The safety zone has a double safety mechanism on the trigger. You have to pull the trigger with both sides of it and even pull to make it go off. That's the only way it goes off. She had to discharge the trigger to make that gun discharge, and they're always engaged and ready to go in case they are confronted with deadly force, which is what they were here,' Chief of Police, Jimmy Toler said. X said if the gun was that easy to discharge, then gun was not stored properly. 'If that gun was already in the holster and able to fire sitting in the holster with no safety on, then if it was that easily accessible to anyone, then that means it was not stored correctly and properly,' X said. There is an ongoing criminal investigation into Erwin's actions and an internal investigation. The internal investigation is procedure when an officer's gun is discharged. 'We will finish our investigation, make a determination about whether or not the action of the officers were reasonable and prudent based on the circumstances that she created. From there, we'll make a determination on whether it's justified or not justified,' Toler said. Both activists are calling for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to step in and investigate if Erwin's rights were violated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Elkhart man charged with 12 child porn crimes
ELKHART — An Elkhart man faces a dozen felonies related to child pornography after police received an online tip. Daniel Parker, 50, is charged with 11 counts of possessing child pornography and a count of child exploitation, all Level 5 felonies. He was arrested after Elkhart police investigated a tip from an internet file sharing service in April. Parker was booked in the Elkhart County Correctional Facility on $85,000 bond. According to court documents: The Elkhart Police Department received a tip through the Internet Crimes Against Children referral system on April 28, which originally came from the file-sharing website Dropbox. A user with the screen name 'D Parker' used the website to acquire an image that was identified as sexual exploitation involving a child, according to police. After viewing the image and confirming that it appeared to be child pornography, police obtained a search warrant for the Dropbox account which netted approximately 136 images. At least 20 of the images and videos that were reviewed involved child porn, police say. Some involved children who appeared to be under age 12. The search warrant also produced information that was related to Parker, including email addresses and a home address in Elkhart, according to police. They obtained a warrant to search his residence on May 11, where they seized electronic devices including a laptop computer and two cellphones. A third warrant was obtained to search the devices. Police say they found at least 20 videos and images depicting children engaged in sexual activity on one device, which were sent from the devices to other people. The device had also received child porn images, and at least 10 conversations were found in which Parker asked to be sent explicit material, according to police. In one conversation he allegedly said he 'prefers 12' but would 'look at younger.' The other phone contained more than 150 videos of mostly child porn saved to the user's Google Images, according to police. Investigators described certain videos involving a juvenile girl and an adult male as 'particularly heinous.' Parker was interviewed by police and allegedly admitted that he had sent and received child porn images, but said he 'had plans to report them.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Police: Couple withdrew funds from missing disabled adult
ELKHART — An Elkhart couple is accused of spending thousands of dollars belonging to a mentally disabled woman around the time she was reported missing. Debra Collins and Loni Collins are each charged with a count of fraud as a Level 5 felony for allegedly spending money out of an account meant to pay for the care of a 68-year-old special needs adult. They are also charged with theft as a Level 6 felony. Warrants for their arrest were issued May 9 with bond set at $50,000 each. According to court documents: The victim was reported missing on March 10 and the Elkhart Police Department issued an alert seeking information on April 30. An investigator with Adult Protective Services also began looking into her disappearance. Debra Collins had been granted permanent guardianship of the victim in 2010 due to the woman's mental disabilities. Collins was ordered to obtain court approval before spending more than $1,500 of the victim's money or to move house, according to the APS investigator. Debra Collins opened a representative payee account at a bank in August 2020 to deposit the victim's Social Security payments and cover her expenses. The victim was placed in a group home in October 2021 but Collins removed her in July 2022, according to the investigator. The investigator obtained bank records from the start of January to the end of March allegedly showing that Debra Collins withdrew $2,959 from the woman's account and transferred it to an account owned by her husband. The money was allegedly spent at Amazon, Kroger, Walmart and other internet-based vendors. No payments were made to care facilities, group homes or other services that would be connected to the victim, according to the investigator. Loni Collins was questioned and allegedly told investigators that he had not seen the victim in over a year and didn't know where she was living. Debra Collins also allegedly told a bank representative in April that she didn't know where the victim was, after the bank froze the representative payee account. Another witness was interviewed and said that Debra Collins claimed she moved the victim to a different group home, but would not give any further information when asked, according to the investigation.
