The Jamaica Rotary honored several police officers of southern Queens with the Cop of the Month award for their efforts in cracking down on crime during the month of January.
The award ceremony took place on Wednesday, February 23, at the Villa Russo in Richmond Hill.
Sergeant Greg Vallerugo and Officers Jeronnie Glanville and Aaron Lohman, all from the 113th Precinct, won the award for several incidents.
Almost an hour into the New Year, the trio arrested suspects of a gunpoint robbery.
On another occasion, Lohman and Vallerugo witnessed two men fist fighting on the street and arrested one of them for attempting to rob and kidnap the other.
Next, the officers saw a car traveling at a high rate of speed. After they stopped the vehicle, they found a phone bill inside from the car’s actual owner. They then arrested the driver for grand larceny auto. The owner called police shortly after to report her car was stolen.
“We had gotten the vehicle before it was even reported,” said Vallerugo.
Officer Matthew Rizzuto from the 102nd Precinct also won the award for working with a confidential informant in an investigation on a man who was previously convicted on attempted murder.
“He’s been a problem in our precinct since he resided there,” said Rizzuto. “He’s done state time before.”
In his residence, officers found a Mac-10 machine gun, along with “numerous” bags of marijuana and cocaine.
Officer Daniel Sarasy from the 113th Precinct and Officer Joseph Caserta from the 103rd Precinct were named cops of the month for apprehending robbery suspects.
After a string of robberies lasting three days in a row, the officers stayed on duty past their tour on the fourth day.
They saw individuals who appeared to be scouting for potential robbery victims. They stopped them and asked for their identification. One of those stopped had a MetroCard with the name of a recent robbery victim on it.
The victims were then called in and positively identified them as the perpetrators.
Sergeant John Egan and Officer Michael Ronalde from the 106th Precinct won the award for stopping a vehicle on January 17. One of the passengers was wanted for residential burglary. This was in light of recent robbery patterns plaguing the area.
“I’m always very proud,” said Assistant Police Chief for Queens South James Secreto. “This is just a small sampling of the work that the men and women of Queens south – and city-wide for that matter – [do].”
