Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Eagan Officers and Citizen Recognized - Carol Thomas,
owner of the
Diamond T
Ranch, has for '
years been the
person Eagan
4
police call L. f
when they need
to round up
stray animals.
Today she'lls
receive an r � E
�'
award from the x d
Eagan Police `_��
Department for 4k £
her years of F R
� y
service. " �(
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CRAIG BORCK/PIONEER PRESS
EAGAN
Ranch ■
owner rAft^ 'z
v roun w®ror ■' es
Carol Thomas helps
catch loose animals Officers recognized
Officers being honored will receive an Award of Merit or Certificate of
Commendation. An Award of Merit is for outstanding self-initiated work
AMY SHERMAN STAFF WRITER or long-term exceptional performance and dedication to the department
and community. A Certificate of Commendation is for an achievement
Carol Thomas was in the bath- that is above the normal call of duty. An Award of Merit is the higher
tub one winter night about 20 honor.
years ago when her husband, The others receiving awards are:
Jerry, told her they'd been sum- Award of Merit
moned to help capture some loose ■ Officer Pat Hogan for commitment to apprehending impaired drivers.
animals. ■ Detective Dan Mason for diligent service to the Eagan Tactical Team.
"Hurry up," Jerry said. "You're Certificates of Commendation:
not going to believe this one." ■ Community Service Officer Susan Hitchens for locating evidence that
A truck holding 80 pigs had led to successful prosecution of suspects in a robbery.
flipped over on Minnesota 13 in ■ Officer Brian Rezny for saving a life by using an automatic defibrillator
Eagan and the animals were going on a victim.
hog wild. The runaways weighed ■ Officer Jim Thielen for his role in handling much of the Eagan Tactical
up to 350 pounds and had big Team's planning and operations.
teeth. It took hours to get the pigs ■ Officer Paul Tupy for leading the department in officer-initiated calls.
into a truck. "We did discover it ■ Officer Robert Wegner for saving family members during a fire in their
would not work to try to herd garage by waking and evacuating them.
them with a police car," said ■ Officer Thomas Fadden for talking a suicidal male who was threatening
to jump off the Cedar Avenue bridge away from imminent danger.
Carol, who owns the Diamond T she receives a fee). In a city
Ranch in Eagan. Jerry practically where housing subdivisions have
had to ride the first pig into the replaced farms, Thomas and oth-
truck, and the rest eventually fol- ers at the ranch are among few j
lowed. Only two oinkers got away. folks left in Eagan with experience
At one point Carol told her hus- handling farm animals.
band that she couldn't believe she Although the calls to Thomas
was out catching pigs with her often come when she's asleep, the
hair frozen in strings and no pair of dispatchers who nominated
makeup. "Jerry was looking at me, her say she is always chipper. "She
covered with pig (doo), and said, has really sacrificed her own time
`Who do you think is paying atten- several times with no grumbling
tion?' »