Dover, DE- At a ceremony held on Monday, February 25, 2019, Superintendent of the Delaware State Police, Colonel Nathaniel McQueen Jr., announced the winners of the annual Trooper of the Year and Civilian of the Year awards.

Trooper of the Year

Each year the Delaware State Police Executive Staff selects one Trooper for the Trooper of the Year Award. To be nominated, a trooper must exceed performance standards and be recognized by his or her peers, as one who epitomizes the Core Values of the Division, which are Honor, Integrity, Courage, Loyalty, Attitude, Discipline and Service.

This year, ten  Troopers were nominated, and out of those worthy nominees, the Executive Staff selected Trooper First Class Christopher Solda, as the 2018 Trooper of the Year, for his outstanding efforts and contributions to the Division and the citizens of the State of Delaware.

A three year veteran assigned to Troop 3, TFC Solda excelled in making significant arrests and furthering critical investigations of criminal activity related to weapons offenses/shootings/seizures, human trafficking investigations, theft from motor vehicles, drug crimes, and fraudulent identification cards. TFC Solda proactively generated these arrests and related investigations; he prides himself on being thorough, exhaustive and relentless in his pursuit of criminals.

As his first line supervisor, Sgt. Scott Horsman noted, “TFC Solda not only solves cases; he catches criminals in the act of committing crimes.” In addition to excelling in the criminal aspect of policing, TFC Solda continues to thrive with his additional duties as a patrol trooper, to include traffic enforcement and community outreach, based on his involvement with Troop 3’s STaRS program.

TFC Solda was also presented with the Randall Armistead Trooper of the Year Award on behalf of the Delaware State Troopers Association.

Trooper of the Year Nominees

• TFC Anthony Desiderio (Troop 1)
• Cpl/2 Anthony Pantalone (Troop 2 CIU)
• TFC Michael Young (Troop 2 Patrol)
• TFC Casey Bredigan (Troop 4)
• TFC Nicholas Mongiello (Troop 5)
• Trooper Robert Harris (Troop 6)
• Cpl. Chase Petrella (Troop 7)
• Cpl. Matthew Morgan (Troop 9)
• Cpl/3 Lawrence Walther (Academy)

Civilian of the Year

Each year the Delaware State Police Executive Staff also selects one civilian employee, for the Civilian of the Year Award. Civilian employees who are nominated for this award display outstanding performance and meet the following criteria:

1. Exceptional service as identified by the employee’s performance evaluations
2. A consistent record of such service through their years of employment
3. Recognition by their peers for outstanding character and integrity.

This year, seven Delaware State Police civilian employees were nominated for the award, and the Executive Staff of the Delaware State Police selected latent print examiner; Anthony DiNardo of the State Bureau of Identification, as the 2018 Civilian of the Year.

In 2018, Tony received and analyzed 1,534 latent prints in 2018 making positive identification “hits” on 658 of these submissions.  He also solved 826 latent cases leading to numerous arrests and the closure of many pending cases, for the Delaware State Police and other allied agencies.

Additionally, the success of the Delaware State Police’s acquisition and utilization of facial recognition technology should largely be attributed to Mr. DiNardo. While beginning in 2016, his accomplishments over the past two years proved instrumental in building confidence within our law enforcement community who now trust the capabilities of this technology and Tony’s skills and abilities.

Civilian of the Year Nominees

• Theresa Daniels (Troop 9)
• Maria Gagnon (Troop 1)
• Debra Hughes (Office of Professional Regulation)
• Heather Maslauskas (Communications)
• Nicole Reed (Communications)
• Dennis Swain (Communications)

In addition to the Trooper and Civilian of the Year, the following Troopers were also presented with the following awards:

Superintendent’s Citation: Sgt. Paul Doherty, Sgt. Andrew Gatti, Cpl. Keith McCabe, Cpl/3 Kevin Mack, Trooper Michelle Galiani, Cpl. Paige Haley, Cpl/1 John Klemash, Trooper Brandon Triantos,

Valor: Cpl/3 Matthew Blakeman, Cpl. Sean Callaway, Cpl. Patrick Jackson

Exceptional Performance: Cpl/3 Michael Branch, Cpl/2 Brett Creasey, TFC Justin Decowski, Cpl. Sean Devenney, Cpl. Michael Lilley, Cpl/2 Amy Lloyd, Cpl. Thomas Macauley, Cpl/2 Anthony Pantalone, TFC William Wallace, Cpl. Aaron Blair, Cpl. Zachary Bonniwell, Officer Brayan Chavez-Rivera (Milton PD), Sgt. Brett Cordrey, Trooper Dean Johnson, Trooper Matt Skidmore, Cpl. Brandon Yencer, Trooper Robert Harris, Cpl/3 Robert Kunicki, Cpl/1 Eugene Miller, TFC Paul Taylor

Lifesaving: TFC Janeika Cole, TFC Michael Young, Trooper Joshua Cary, Cpl/3 Gary Fournier, Cpl/3 Justin Galloway, Trooper Jordan Smith, TFC Robert Spanier, TFC Elizabeth Bruette, Cpl/2 Greg Cartwright, Trooper Irina Celpan, Cpl/3 Charles Fidler, Cpl. Kyle Ogden, TFC Zack Spudis, TFC Corliss Talley, TFC Kyle Taylor, Cpl. Corey Bastianelli, Cpl. John Cullen (Greenwood PD), TFC Jennifer Hastings, Sgt. Thomas Jefferson (Sussex County EMS), Trooper Matt Skidmore, Trooper Herney Tovar-Quintero, TFC William Wallace, Trooper Sarah Bailey, TFC Jason Berry, Cpl/3 Matt Blakeman, Cpl. Megan Burch, Cpl/2 Brian Page, TFC Dustin Hamilton, Theresa Roark (Suscom)

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Presented by Public Information Officer, Master Corporal Michael Austin

Released: 022719 1830

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