FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder on Thursday honored several employees and a resident for their contributions to the department and community.
During the ceremony, Helder highlighted employee promotions and presented three awards: The Outstanding Citizen Award, The Sheriff's Unit Citation Award and the Medal of Merit Award.
Terry Hendrix, a security specialist for Arvest Bank, received the Outstanding Citizen award. Hendrix has helped law enforcement for more than 20 years with financial investigations.
The Outstanding Citizen Award is given to a resident who assists the Sheriff's Office in it's overall mission or contributes to the apprehension of a criminal in a manner that wouldn't normally be expected by a member of the community, according to the Sheriff's Office.
From May through July of this year, Hendrix assisted the Sheriff's Office in a forgery case involving a rash of mailbox thefts and check washing which put eight people behind bars. The suspects face state and federal charges.
Six Sheriff's Office employees were promoted to corporal: Nolan Ake, Patrick Bzoski, Brian Carter, Kayla Cone, Jacob Gardner and Nelson Henriquez. Michael Arnold was promoted to sergeant.
Twenty employees were given the Sheriff's Unit Citation. The award is given to employees who perform an act or a series of acts demonstrating a high degree of teamwork and professionalism, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Medal of Merit award was given to seven employees who were involved in shooting incident Aug. 20 on Whitehouse Road outside Elkins.
NW News on 10/03/2014