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Officer Lopez, Officer of the First Quarter

The Excellence in Law Enforcement Committee has selected Officer Lopez as Officer of the 1st Quarter. Officer Lopez had demonstrated performance above and beyond that, which is routinely expected. Most notably his diligent efforts in three cases involving the safety of students at Bryan High School.

On 1-10-11, Officer Lopez was contacted by a senior at Bryan High School about text messages that she had received. The victim had answered an ad from Craig's List. She started communicating with someone whom she believed was a 22 year old female. They exchanged sexually explicit messages and photos. The victim then received a message from a male who claimed that the victim's picture had been received by a 14 year old boy. The unknown male threatened to call police if the victim didn't meet with him to have sex. Officer Lopez contacted the male suspect by phone. At first, the suspect was evasive and denied knowing what Officer Lopez was talking about. Officer Lopez persisted with his inquiries and, eventually, got the suspect to agree to meet him at the Bellevue Police Criminal Investigations office. Officer Lopez identified the suspect as a 42 year old registered sex offender, who has previously been convicted of child enticement crimes. This offender was also waiting for court on another charge of child enticement related to a babysitter with whom he had contact. During a videotaped interview with Officer Lopez, the suspect admitted to his correspondence with the victim and his premeditated plan to coerce the victim to have sex with him through blackmail. The suspect also made statements about engaging in similar schemes using Craig's List about two dozen other times. Officer Lopez coordinated with detectives to have a search warrant made and served at the suspect's home in Friend, Nebraska. Two of the suspect's computers were seized to be analyzed for evidence. The suspect was arrested and charged with two felonies.

On 1-24-11, Officer Lopez was contacted by Bryan High School staff about a counterfeit $50 bill that had been passed at a basketball game two nights earlier. Later in the day, he was contacted by school staff about another counterfeit $50 bill that had just been used at the school store by an 11th grade student. Officer Lopez noted that the serial number on the second bill was the same as the first one. Officer Lopez interviewed the 11th grade suspect. During the interview, the student admitted that his brother was making the money in their family's basement. That home was in Omaha. Instead of just turning the case over to Omaha, Officer Lopez decided to contact Bellevue detectives. A search warrant was written, and Omaha detectives were contacted to assist. Officers learned that the suspect could be in possession of a gun, so a Douglas County S.W.A.T. team was used. Over $8,000 worth of counterfeit bills were located with two firearms. One of those guns was later tied to a shooting in Grand Island. With the outstanding assistance from detectives, Officer Lopez's initiative in this case led to the suspect being arrested and federally indicted for the crimes.

On 3-15-11, Officer Lopez noticed a large amount of smoke south of Bryan High School. He left the school and located a large grass fire near 46th Street and Schroeder Drive. The fire was spreading quickly with the wind. Officer Lopez called for a fire department response and additional police units to assist with evacuating homes. He used his cruiser's extinguisher in an attempt to slow the fire until the Bellevue Fire units arrived. The fire consumed about ten acres of grassland and was stopped approximately thirty yards from homes in the area. Three days later, Officer Lopez received a tip about possible suspects that may have started the fire. He learned that two students who were skipping class bragged about starting the fire near the park. Officer Lopez interviewed the students believed to be involved. They admitted to starting the fire, but thought they had extinguished it with a bottle of water before leaving the area. He cleared the case by citing them for open burn ban violations and released them to their parents. Not only did his actions on the 15th undoubtedly prevent the fire from reaching the homes, his follow through found the persons responsible.

Honorable Mention

For the 1st Quarter in 2011, three officers have been selected to receive Honorable Mention, Detectives David Chizek, Detective Craig Wiech, and Officer Cvitanov.

Detectives Chizek and Wiech worked together on two separate cases where their efforts were formally recognized. The first was a First Degree Assault/Domestic Abuse case where the victim and her eight year old child were dominated, controlled, and terrorized for a period of more than one and a half years. The suspect would routinely put a gun to the head of the victims in order to intimidate them into doing what he wanted. Detectives Chizek and Wiech were commended for their professionalism with the victim and their ability to gain her trust. She confided sensitive and embarrassing details that were needed to complete the investigation. Their efforts led to the arrest of the suspect on at least twelve separate felony charges and allowed the victim and her children the opportunity to escape their deplorable situation.

The second case was the recent homicide investigation. Detective Chizek was the on-call detective working the night of the original call. Detective Wiech also responded to assist with processing the scene and conducting initial interviews. Both detectives worked over thirty hours straight the day of the homicide, and both had forty to fifty hours of overtime spent on the case during the first week of the investigation. Neither complained about the ridiculously long hours and did what was needed to be done to get the job done. Two suspects were arrested and a solid case was prepared for prosecution.

On 1-2-11, Officer Cvitanov was sent to investigate a missing person who was possibly in danger. During a call to her son, the victim could be heard being assaulted by a man she was traveling with. There was reason to believe that she may have been held against her will. Officer Cvitanov found that the male involved had a violent criminal history that included kidnapping and domestic assaults. The suspect had active warrants in two states. One of the warrants was for felony escape. Officer Cvitanov immediately had the vehicle entered into NCIC and started having her cell phone tracked. He learned that the cell was near Clatsop Oregon. He caused a bolo to be issued to area law enforcement. That bolo and Officer Cvitanov's communication with officers in that area led to the vehicle being located near a beach. The male was taken into custody and the female victim was able to speak to law enforcement. She was given some food and a place to stay. Officer Cvitanov's tenacious efforts led to the capture of a violent escapee and ensured the victim's safety.

The Committee also wanted to recognize Officer Cvitanov's willingness to help his coworkers and the extra effort he has demonstrated on several occasions when assisting his peers with cases.