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Police Honor Five at Awards Ceremony; Caponera Named ‘Officer of the Year’

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New Canaan Police on Tuesday recognized five officers during an awards ceremony. The following citations are supplied by New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. “We are all very proud of these officers, their accomplishments and their devotion to Town and Department,” he said in a press release. Officer Bryan Connolly—Meritorious Police Duty Award:

On January 2, 2016 at approximately 1:47 AM, while on routine patrol, Officer Connolly observed a vehicle traveling that matched the description of a suspect vehicle wanted in connection with a series of larcenies from motor vehicles which had occurred in Darien in mid-December. Officer Connolly stopped the suspicious vehicle and found that the driver, Eric Williams, had a lengthy criminal record of burglaries and larcenies as well three outstanding arrest warrants for violation of probation. Williams was taken into custody and transported to court the following day. Williams has victimized New Canaan in the past and was arrested for a series of over a dozen vehicle larcenies.

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New Canaan Police Honor 15 Officers, One Civilian; First-Ever Lt. Stephen W. Wood Memorial Officer of the Year Award Given

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Though he passed away nearly four years ago, Lt. Stephen W. Wood, in ways that are profound to those who worked with him, has remained with the New Canaan Police Department. Addressing a room full of New Canaan police, their families and town officials that gathered at Lapham Community Center on Thursday morning—including Pat Wood, widow of the 33-year NCPD veteran—Capt. Vincent DeMaio said “his presence is felt pretty much every day.”

“I think of him often, and I think his memory is firmly in place with every officer worked with him,” DeMaio said during a ceremony that saw 15 police officers receive awards—including a new, special award dedicated to Wood’s memory. The Lt. Stephen W. Wood Memorial Officer of the Year Award in its inaugural dedication went to the highly respected figure’s own son-in-law, NCPD Officer Aaron LaTourette. Asked at the event what she thought and felt about the award, Pat Wood said: “It’s an honor. He would be honored.”

His daughter Kim, who was on hand with her sister Kelly, as well, said: “He was a say-it-like-it-is, do-it-like-it-is kind of guy.