Sheriff's Office honors deputies, employees

The deputies rushed down a rocky incline and entered the water.

A silver sport utility vehicle was in a creek, upside down, in about 5 feet of water. The vehicle had crashed through a metal guard rail on State Road 56 near Wesley Chapel on March 2. The deputies thought the driver was possibly inside.

Deputy Rafthel Morales-Santos swam under the water with a flashlight. He entered a rear window that had been broken during the crash. He unlocked a back door, which allowed Sgt. Brett Landsberg to swim inside and help search the car.

While Deputy Richard Scilex tried to break the passenger side window, the first two deputies removed the back seats from the car, mangled from the wreck, so they could get to the front. There, they found a man trapped beneath the roof, which had caved in.

Another deputy, Robert Wilkins, helped pull the man from the car.

It was too late. The man died.

The deputies were honored Wednesday for trying to save his life. They were given a Meritorious Service Award for Courage during a quarterly awards ceremony for Sheriff's Office employees.

Deputies Michael Toczylowski and Chris Meizo received a Lifesaving Award for performing CPR on a 78-year-old woman slumped over in a car at a gas station in New Port Richey. The woman had no pulse when the deputies gave her CPR on Jan. 24. Paramedics turned the woman over to doctors.

Deputies Brian Contin and Travis Gardner also were given a Lifesaving Award after a young mother was shot June 25, 1999, at a Holiday home. Paramedics declared the woman dead and left, according to the Sheriff's Office. The two deputies discovered that the woman was breathing, and she survived.

Employees honored for doing good work during the quarter were Connie Cunningham, the agency's grant coordinator; Detective James Prack; Diane Schwarz, responsible for reaccreditation; Deputy Davania Patterson; JoAnne Carr, detention bureau medical services director; Leo McHugh, desk officer; and Sgt. Rodney Bishop.

The employees are given a day off with pay.

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