7th PDAC honors
new Officer of the Year

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

It’s hard to say who wants Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Heston back on the streets the most.
Heston, who recently injured a knee in the line of duty and is undergoing medical treatment, naturally wants to get back to normal duty as soon as possible.
His commanding officer, Staff Inspector Theresa Young, feels the same way. After all, you can never have enough cops on the street, particularly those like Heston, whose enthusiasm for the job sets an example for his colleagues.
Heston’s fiancée, Kristella Pitkowski, wants him back to work, too, just so she can hear about what’s happening on the streets.
"I miss all of those stories," she explained.
But probably the residents of the 7th Police District have the most to gain by Heston’s prompt return to action — if his recent performance record is any indication.
On May 17, the 7th Police District Advisory Council named Heston its newest Officer of the Year for a series of high-profile and high-stakes arrests that he made in 2006.
Heston, a seven-year department veteran, won out among a field of nine candidates in a vote of the PDAC members. All nine nominees had been named Officer of the Month at least once last year.
Heston won the March honor. All three of the big arrests occurred in a span of about two weeks, he said during a PDAC ceremony on May 17.
In those three jobs alone, Heston took two handguns and some cocaine off the streets and stifled a bank heist, all while working in a relatively low-crime section of the city.
"Crime happens everywhere. It’s nice to know that we have officers who are dedicated and have that energy. They amaze me," said Young, who has been interim commander of the 7th district following the retirement of Capt. Aloysius Martin last month.
Heston described March 2006 as "one of those runs" on crime that occur from time to time.
"You can go a couple of months without anything, then you look around the corner and there it is," he said.
The first incident occurred on March 13 when he responded to a report of a highway disturbance on the 1800 block of Bergen St. at 7:45 p.m.
Upon arrival, the officer learned that one man allegedly had pulled a gun on another individual and threatened to shoot him. Heston arrested the accused at the scene and recovered the weapon identified by the victim.
On March 25, Heston and his longtime partner, Officer Joseph Walker, were patrolling the district and stopped a vehicle for an expired inspection sticker. Inside the car, they spotted a packet of suspected cocaine on the seat. After a narcotics field test, they arrested the driver and impounded his car.
Also during March 2006, Heston responded to a reported armed robbery at a bank inside the Paul’s Run retirement home.
"I was coming out of headquarters (at Bustleton Avenue and Bowler Street) from dropping off paperwork and heard the job come out. It was a half-block away from the district, so I went," Heston said.
A security guard had watched the suspect board a southbound bus. Heston called SEPTA officials via police radio to advise them that he planned to stop the bus, which he then did.
On board, he spotted the suspect fitting the description given by witnesses and recovered the loaded gun and the stolen money.
In addition to a PDAC-sponsored plaque and gifts from local businesses, Heston received awards from U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, state Sen. Mike Stack, state Reps. George Kenney and John Sabatina Jr., along with City Councilmen Brian O’Neill and Jim Kenney.
City Controller Alan Butkovitz, District Attorney Lynne Abraham and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson also attended, along with Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua, who heads the police department’s patrol bureau.
The other nominees for the award included the following officers:
• Bill Killian for arresting a man who burglarized a pool supply store and a nearby home;
• Daniel Butler for arresting a female purse snatcher at a local supermarket, a drunken-driver who struck two other vehicles, and a man who attempted to pass phony $100 bills;
• Kim Retiano for arresting a woman wanted for forgery and identity theft, as well as a man for violating a protection-from-abuse order;
• John Lordan for arresting a man who assaulted another individual with a glass mug, causing serious injury;
• Steven Bys for arresting a woman who assaulted and injured her husband in the head and arm;
• o John Lang for arresting a man who robbed a woman in a supermarket parking lot at the point of a razor blade;
• Anthony DiPatri for arresting a bank robber;
• Patti Hershman for arresting five males who robbed a student in a high school cafeteria, as well as a male who came to school with a knife and Chinese star weapon.
In addition to the Officer of the Year ceremony, the PDAC discussed its upcoming Community Day, scheduled for Saturday, June 9, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Maternity BVM Parish Hall in Bustleton.
The event is free and open to the public. More than 60 exhibitors are expected from the local business, non-profit, law enforcement and government communities.
For more information, visit www.7thpdac.com ••