Governor Baker speaks from podium in well of House of Representatives Chamber
BOSTON – Thirteen Barnstable County sheriff’s deputies were honored this week in a State House ceremony organized by the state Department of Correction (DOC) and presided over by the governor and lieutenant governor.
Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito praised the deputies, and their brother and sister officers from the DOC and a handful of other county sheriffs’ offices, for swift, successful, and in some cases heroic action in several life-saving episodes.
Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings with SRT member Christopher Card, whose duties at incident included restraint and and arrest of suspect.
The one in Barnstable County began one afternoon last summer in Mashpee when a middle-aged suspect barricaded himself inside an electronics store near Mashpee Commons. (The award was for calendar year 2016 and was given — in Barnstable County’s case – in the group category.)
Recipients were responding members of the Sheriff’s Office, all collaterally assigned to the Upper Cape Cod Regional Special Response Team. The unit also includes members from Falmouth and Mashpee police.
Three of the 13 recipients are among those accepting congratulations from Gov. Baker. Robert Ahonen shakes the governor’s hand, Jeff Ciampa (right) just has, and Lou Langton (left) is about to. That’s Sheriff Cummings and Lt. Governor Polito in background, between Ahonen and Langton.
The incident ended 7½ hours after it began with an equal measure of abruptness at both ends. But not before the suspect yelled his intention to “kill the first cop who tried to enter [the now evacuated store],” according to the award narrative read aloud at the ceremony.
He had armed himself, the narrative went on to explain, with an AR-15 automatic rifle, a 50-calibre sniper rifle (with scope), a shotgun, two Glock pistols, innumerable 30-round clips, and an extra 1,000 rounds of ammo. Upon arrest, he was charged with multiple felony counts.
The Barnstable County contingent, 2017 award winners all
The award recipients included incident commander Christopher Eordekian; negotiators Robert Ahonen, Kevin Fernandes and Lou Langton; arresting officer Chris Card; inner perimeter officers James Anglin, Brendan Murphy, Peter Benson, Jason Bumpus, and Jeff Ciampa; outer perimeter officers Patrick Martin and Paul Roderick; and mobile van operator Ralph Swenson.
Media release and photos furnished by Barnstable Sheriff’s Office
