2018 NJSPBA Valor Awards
Unit Citation
Sergeant Robert Bell
Corporal Sam Yoo
Offi cer Daniel Richards
Long Branch Local 10
Sheriff Offi cer Charles Wells
Sheriff Offi cer Royston Hercules
Monmouth County Sheriff’s Offi cers Local 314
A call of shots fired with multiple in-
juries came to the Long Branch Police
Department right around a shift change
on Dec. 31, 2017. The report indicated a
shooter with an AK-47 in his house. The
shooter reportedly had killed four mem-
bers of his family. Other family members
might still be in the house. Here was a true
test of time.
Long Branch Sergeant Robert Bell, Cor-
poral Sam Yoo and Officer Daniel Richards
arrived on the scene within 20 seconds
after the call came in. There was no time
to lose, so much so that they couldn’t wait
for the Monmouth County SWAT team,
which was responding to another call.
“It was a matter of timing,” Richards
assured. “If we had waited any longer,
he would have worked up the courage to
shoot more victims.”
Monmouth County Sheriff’s Officers
Charles Wells and Royston Hercules ar-
rived with backup and the combined unit
was able to affect a perimeter in front of
the building.
Time kept on slipping, however, so the
three Long Branch officers decided to wait
no longer. The door to the residence was
unlocked, so they were able to get inside.
They saw four victims on the ground and
A race against time
a surviving family member on the couch.
“When we got the call, we heard it was a
shotgun, but then we heard it was an AK-
47,” Yoo said. “That was the biggest con-
cern when going in.”
But it was time’s up for the shooter. He
saw that he was surrounded. The officers
gave him an order to drop the weapon,
and he surrendered. There was no further
loss of life.
It all happened in a blur, according to
the Long Branch officers.
“You lose all concept of time, and you’re
trying to work with each other,” Bell ex-
plained.
It’s been some time since the incident,
but as they reunited at the Valor Awards
celebration, they recalled vividly what
made the difference on that day.
“I was surrounded by a bunch of great
guys that I had faith in to make entry,” Yoo
described. “I thank God that it all worked
out, that we came home safe and that no
one got hurt.”
Left to their own devices
With the growing opioid problem
across the country, law enforcement
is doing everything within its power to
protect community members from do-
ing any serious harm to themselves or
others.
On Dec. 27, 2017, members of Cher-
ry Hill Local 176 were dispatched to a
CVS on the report of an armed robbery.
The robber had brandished a gun and
demanded all the opiate pills. One of
the bottles given to the suspect by the
pharmacist was actually a tracking de-
vice. The device activated when the man
left the store, signaling Detectives Rene
Lobanov, Eric Fagen, Sheldon Bryant
and Michael Johnson to respond to the
scene.
Cherry Hill dispatch started tracking
the device and relaying directions to the
detectives as to which way the suspect’s
vehicle was going. They tracked the de-
Unit citation
Detective Rene Lobanov
Detective Eric Fagen
Detective Sheldon Bryant
Detective Michael Johnson
Cherry Hill Local 176
vice for more than 40 miles, eliminating
numerous vehicles, until they identified
the suspect’s vehicle. They followed him
into Trenton, where they conducted a
felony car stop. The three occupants
were apprehended, and the medication
was recovered.
For their courageous actions, Detec-
tives Lobanov, Fagen, Bryant and John-
son received a unit citation award at the
2018 PBA Valor Awards on Nov. 17.
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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