Honoring those who protect and serve

COSHOCTON – Honoring those who keep local residents safe was the focus of a biannual awards program held by the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputies and other personnel were recently recognized for work that saved lives, took criminals off the streets and went beyond the average duty. As voted on by their peers, Det. Tim Bethel was named the Deputy of the Year and Communications Officer Kacie Deibel was named Officer of the Year. Rusty Bluck also received a Civilian Award for his recent rescue of a neighbor sinking in a vehicle into a flood Wills Creek. 

Certificates were presented and a banquet held Thursday at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. It was the third such ceremony by the sheriff’s office with the first being in 2014. Sheriff Tim Rogers said it was a simple, but important way to let his employees know their hard work is appreciated, much of which is never known by the general public who benefit from it. 

“It’s important to recognize some things that have occurred over time we feel we should give awards and commendations for,” Rogers said. “There’s a lot of good things that happen in the office and this is just a small sampling, but these are the ones that stood out.”

Rogers said Deibel received her award based on a great attitude and willingness to work with callers on getting extra details to help road officers and detectives. Deibel also received a Lifesaving Award for talking a caller through how to perform the Heimlich maneuver to save a choking victim in December. 

“I work with a great group of people, so it makes it easy to go do your job and love what you do,” Deibel said. “I love to help people.”

Bethel was recognized for a record year of drug enforcement in 2017, where he spearheaded 144 undercover drug buys from 85 different dealers. As the drug crisis in Ohio escalates, Rogers said Bethel’s work has been key in the sheriff’s office keeping control of drug crimes in the community. 

Bethel said his fellow officers have been great at helping him and tips from the public have been very beneficial in his work. Still, drug abuse in the community is far different from when he started out in law enforcement nearly 30 years ago. 

“Numbers are going up, the kids are younger who are using and they’re addicted longer,” he said. “I have children who live in this community and I don’t want to see anymore kids get addicted, so we try to get everybody we can get.”

Among civilians recognized for going above and beyond was Rusty Bluck of West Lafayette. In January, Bluck saved his neighbor, Michelle Allen, from a vehicle that was sinking into flooded Wills Creek. He jumped on the roof of the SUV, pulled Allen out and pushed her through breaking ice to safety before emergency personnel arrived on scene.

“Rusty endangered his own life to save someone else and he should be recognized for that,” Rogers said. “We have these heroic things that happen in our community and we don’t want to overlook those.”

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Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office Office Awards

Office Citations: Lt. Dean Hettinger, Sgt. Charlie George, CO Trudy Corbett, Deps. Dave Selders, Keith Wilt, Jim Priest

Office Commendation: Deps. Chris Walters, Troy Bricker, Adam Mast, Albert Havranek, Chris Johnon, Morgan Landis, Josh Walsh, Denise Stotts, Kevin Cichon, JD Hardway, Dustin Mullinex, Brian Noe; Dets. Eric DeMattio, Nancy Wilt, Seth Andrews, Tim Bethel, Dave Stone; CO Clay Mercer; Det. Sgt. Garrison Bryant

Certificate of Appreciation: COs Erin Ehman, Clay Mercer, Andrew Keifner, Adam Parks, Beth Mason; Deps. Mark Sharrock, Denny Conkle, Brandon Elson, Debbi Miller, JD Hardway, Chris Johnson; Dets. Dave Stone, Nancy Wilt; Sgt. Mike White, Matt Woitel; Lt. Jim Crawford

Certificate of Merit: Deps. Brandon Elson, Steve Mox, Chris Johnson, Kevin Cichon, Albert Havranek and Lt. Chip Udischas

Lifesaving Award: CO Kacie Deibel; Deps. Mark Sharrock, Troy Bricker, Morgan Landis, Albert Havranek, Kevin Cichon, Brandon Elson, Brent McKee, Robert Wagner; Det. Dave Stone; Cpl. Morgan Eckelberry; Sgts. Mike White, Wes Wright Eppley, John Glasure, Matt Woitel; Lts. Ryan Lawrence, Chip Udischas

Safe Driving Award: Fifth Award – Dep. Scott Mast; Fourth Award – Deps. Chris Walters, Chad Jackson, Keith Wilt and Lt. Dean Hettinger; Third Award – Dep. Kevin Cichon and Eric DeMattio; Second Award – Deps. Albert Havranek, Josh Walsh, Ryan Bullock, Mark Sharrock, Det. Nancy Wilt, Sgt. Mike White, Lt. Chip Udischas; First Award – Deps. Brian Noe, JD Hardway, Seth Andrews and Det. Dave Stone 

Deputy of the Year: Det. Tim Bethel

Officer of the Year: CO Kacie Deibel

Civilian Awards: Bret Mellor and Rusty Bluck