Seven Students Honored by Newtown Police

By Jeff White

At the Fireside Inn last Friday night, seven Newtown students took great pride in being on the right track and in knowing that people were indeed paying attention.

In a scene that provided a nice change to the recent negative national media coverage of violent school children, Megan Kelly, Melanie Troll, Jessica and Melissa Shepard, George Burch, Phillip Lombardo and Melanie Derdall were the recipients of the first Newtown Police Youth Award during a banquet held in their honor. The dinner was attended by the winners’ families, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, Police Captain Mike Kehoe and Sergeant Chris Vanghele, who spearheaded the award’s creation.

“The whole idea is to increase positive interaction between police and youth,” said Sgt Vanghele recently. Sgt Vanghele received funding through the Office of Policy and Management for the purpose of youth-community policing. The award honored those youths in town who had demonstrated bravery during a police related incident where their actions contributed to a successful outcome.

Sgt Vanghele asked his fellow officers to canvass their case files for examples of students who they felt qualified for the award. It was easy for him to nominate Megan Kelly and Melanie Troll, whose courage in the face of danger inspired the Sergeant to create the award.

It was a hot summer night in the July of 1998, and lying in a backyard tent Megan Kelly and Melanie Troll thought for sure that the Riverside Prowler had been caught.

Then, in the middle of the night, the hand of an unknown man reached in and groped in the darkness of the girls’ tent. The light from a flashlight had already awakened Melanie, who heard the sound of light footsteps outside. The man’s cadence became more hurried, as he trotted back and forth behind their dome tent. Both girls had the presence of mind to get inside the house.

“I just told Melanie really loudly, ‘I have to go inside and go to the bathroom,’” recalled Megan. The two made a dash for the house and promptly woke Megan’s father and called the police. In the ensuing minutes, Megan’s father managed to corner and tackle the intruder along the side of the house, and when the police arrived, they were able to finally arrest the Riverside Prowler.

The two high school freshmen remembered the incident last Friday night, and how intense it was. “It was really scary,” said Megan. “It’s something you just never forget. But I think anyone in my position would have done the same thing.”

“I didn’t even think I’d receive an award for it,” admitted Melanie. “My sister said she was proud of me. That felt good.”

“The reward is that he is behind bars and he’s not going to bother us for a long time,” added Megan.

Presence of mind also characterizes 11-year-old Melanie Derdall. When the sixth-grader’s mother slammed and broke her finger in the door of her car, Melanie rode her bike down Route 302 to the police station, alerting the on-duty officers of her mother’s serious injury. An ambulance was dispatched to the Derdall house, and it was not long before Melanie’s mother received treatment in the emergency room.

“I was scared because I didn’t know what to do,” Melanie remembered. “She was bleeding a lot.”

When asked about receiving the award, Melanie said last Friday, “I’m happy.” It was her 12th birthday.

“So often we focus on kids doing wrong that we don’t recognize young people, who do good things,” said First Selectman Herb Rosenthal in his opening remarks at the banquet.

Jessica Shepard, Melissa Shepard and George Burch certainly did the right thing when they came across drug paraphernalia lying on the street near the Shepards’ home. As the three cousins were walking their bikes and kicking up leaves, they uncovered several syringes, some smashed and some with orange caps. Alertly, the three rushed home to the Shepards’ house and called the police.

Patricia Shepard was at first concerned that her children might have come into contact with the needles. But when she asked Jessica and Melissa, the two told their mother that no, they did not touch the syringes.

“I’m proud of them and I’m glad that they had the sense to come home and not touch [the needles],” she said. 

When high school freshman Phillip Lombardo was hanging out with some of his friends one night, he did not foresee stopping an assault.

Three of the boys present in the group began making unwanted advances at a girl in the group. The situation quickly became serious as the girl tried to fight off the boys. Phillip pushed the boys off the girl and took her to safety. The three perpetrators were later arrested on charges of assault.

Sgt Vanghele, who is a former School Resource Officer, hopes that the Newtown Police Youth Award will become a yearly honor. According to him, the community response as been positive, and moreover, the award is not that expensive to run.

Maybe the true magnitude of the service performed by the seven students who were honored last week might never be fully realized. These are kids, after all, who all are at a fragile stage in their quest to grow up, when the pressures of popularity and acceptance often sway their decisions. At these ages, the choices students make not only matter but carry repercussions that resonate among their friends and in their schools. 

 The students honored at the Fireside were faced with tough decisions, perhaps unpopular ones. They had to stand up to their peers, help their mother, “tell” the police. They all made the right decision.

“Adults sometimes underestimate what kids can do,” said Sgt Vanghele during his remarks at the banquet. “There are kids out there who do the right thing. They listen when it counts.”