Officers, lifeguards rewarded for their bravery, heroism
It was heroes night this week at the Wheaton City Council meeting.
Two police officers and three park district employees received lifesaving awards. In addition, an auxiliary police officer was presented with one of the Wheaton Police Department's highest honors.
Auxiliary officer Curtis Kiebles was given the Police Star for catching a Wheaton man who has been charged with fatally stabbing a neighbor during a party.
On June 19, police found Micheal Scalzo, 40, of the 800 block of Crescent Street, in the rear of his garage with multiple stab wounds to his upper torso. Scalzo died at the hospital four hours later.
Kiebles located the suspect, Michael R. Delaney, 45, of the 700 block of Crescent Street, hiding in bushes nearby. When Delaney tried to run, Kiebles chased him, apprehended him and detained him. Now Delaney is facing first-degree murder charges and is being held on $3 million bond at the DuPage County jail.
Deputy Chief Tom Meloni said the Police Star - an honor bestowed only once in the past decade - is given to officers who distinguish themselves "by bravery or heroism above and beyond the normal demands of duty."
Kiebles said he feels "happy and honored" to be recognized. Still, he described the arrest as a team effort.
"It's a testament to the training you get at the police department because I just did what I was trained to do," Kiebles said.
The two other police officers honored Monday night were Nicholas Hattabaugh and Edward Waterous.
On July 2, Hattabaugh and Waterous responded to a home on Thompson Drive and found an elderly man unconscious with no pulse. The officers administered CPR and used an automatic defibrillator to revive him.
Unfortunately, the man died a week later.
However, all is well for a 3-year-old girl who was saved by Northside Park Family Aquatic Center lifeguards Jack Blanchard and Taylor Patterson and aquatic manager Tom Grace.
Blanchard was on duty July 10 at the pool when he saw the child floating face down.
After following the 10-second protocol and observing no movement from the child, Blanchard alerted the other lifeguards and 911 was called, officials said. He then approached the child to see if she was playing. Getting no response, he removed her from the water.
When lifeguard Patterson couldn't find any sign of breathing or a heartbeat from the child, she administered CPR. The child became responsive but started having a seizure.
Then paramedics arrived and treated the child for the seizure while rushing her to the hospital. The child has since been released from the hospital and is at home and doing well, officials said.