Jun 30, 2011

Funeral for SFC Jason R. Sargent

ELLSWORTH - SFC Jason R. Sargent, 39, died in Georgia, June 25, 2011 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born in Bar Harbor, July 9, 1971 the son of Mark T. and Pamela A. (Frost) Sargent. 

His remains will be arriving back in Maine this afternoon (June 30) between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Maine Air National Guard Base in Bangor.  Jason will be escorted by an Army Honor Guard and Maine State Troopers.  A motorcade from Bangor to the Jordan-Fernald Funeral Home in Ellsworth will then occur.  Below is the obituary for Jason.  The family has express that the public is welcome to observe.  More information with reference to visiting hours and services are available at the Jordan-Fernald website
http://www.jordanfernald.com.

Jason was a graduate of Ellsworth High School. He served in the US Army from 1993 until 2000. After returning to Maine he became a Maine State Trooper and then a Maine State Motor Carrier Inspector. In 2003 the Army sent him to Afghanistan for 12 months in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom. When he returned from Afghanistan he returned to work for the State of Maine until 2008 when the Army called again. Jason rejoined the Army Marksmanship Unit located in Fort Benning, GA and served there until now. Jason loved to compete in pistol competitions and teach others to shoot a pistol. He loved to fly airplanes, hunt and spend time with his family and friends.

Jason is survived by his wife of 16 years, Cindi and their three sons, Nicholas, Andrew and William; parents, Mark and Pamela Sargent of Otis; brother Ben Sargent of Otis; father and mother-in-law, Ed and Cindy Foss of Hancock; grandparents, Roger and Jeannine Sargent of Trenton, and Barbara Frost of Ft. Myers, FL. Jason also leaves behind many aunts, uncles, cousins, and a sister-in-law, two brothers-in-law, two nephews and many, many friends who loved him dearly and will miss him every day. He was predeceased by his grandfather, Harold Frost.

Calling hours will be held 4 to 6 p.m., Saturday, July 2, 2011 at Jordan-Fernald, 113 Franklin St., Ellsworth. A funeral service will be held 2 p.m., Sunday, July 3rd at the Maine Coast Baptist Church, Bangor Road, Ellsworth. Following the interment at Frost Cemetery, Mariaville, family and friends are invited to a celebration of Jason’s life at Beech Hill School in Otis.

Contributions in Jason’s memory may be Mary Dow Center for Cancer Care, 50 Union St. Ellsworth 04605 or to Caring Bridge.

Jun 22, 2011

2011 Maine State Police awards

Courtesy of Maine Public Safety

AUGUSTA - The Maine State Police held awards on June 9 to honor troopers.

Thomas Pappas was awarded the Trooper of the Year Award. Pappas has been a trooper since 2008, following two years with Portland Police. He patrols in Androscoggin County and is one of the department's top drug investigators.

Col. Williams called Pappas "a one-man drug task force."

In the past year, Pappas has investigated several drug cases, all started from a traffic stop. A large quantity of illegal drugs, weapons and almost $30,000 has been seized from those efforts. Pappas grew up in Queens, New York, graduated from high school in Harrington, Maine and worked as a lobster fisherman prior to his law enforcement career. He is the 46th trooper to be honored as Trooper of the Year. The award started in 1965 to honor Trooper Charles Black, who was shot to death at a South Berwick bank robbery in 1964. Pappas lives in the town of Bowdoin with his wife Gina and two young children.

Others nominated for trooper of the year were Doug Cropper, Troop A; Peter Michaud, Troop C; Chris Rogers, Troop D; Jarod Stedman, Troop E; Dan Dechaine, Troop F; Greg Roy, Troop J; Josh D'Angelo, Troop K; Mark Holmquist, CID I; and Joshua Haines, CID II.

Also honored at the annual State Police Awards Ceremony on June 9:

Special Awards of Commendation to Trooper James Leonard, Sagadahoc Deputy Sheriff Matthew Shiers and Bath Police Corporal Marc Brunelle for saving a man threatening to jump off the Sagadahoc Bridge between Bath and Woolwich.

Meritorious Service Awards to Sgt. Tom Ballard, Troopers Corey Smith, Jason Madore and Adam McNaughton, and Detective Jason Richards for their role in apprehending a man charged with murder in the town of Brooks.

Trooper Jonathan Leach received a meritorious award for single-handedly taking into custody an impaired driver who pulled a knife on him in Manchester in February.

Meritorious awards also presented to Trooper Patrick Munzing, Kennebec County Sheriff's Deputy Aaron Moody, Gardiner Police Officer Nate McNally and Pittston resident William Stover for pulling a woman from her wrecked burning vehicle in Chelsea in April. Office of Information Technology staffer Shawn Hoyle from Public Safety received a Colonel's Award for developing two computer programs used by troopers.

Litchfield resident Matthew Smith received a Special Award of Commendation for reporting a dangerous driver on Route 202 in Manchester in May and then taking the keys from the car to prevent the driver from leaving. It was later determined the woman driver was having a diabetic reaction.

South Portland police officer Kevin Webster was honored for his 14 years of service to the State Police Canine Training Unit. Since 1997, Webster has been involved in 24 training classes for police officers and their dogs.

A number of agencies were singled out for their help in last June's triple homicide investigation in the town of Amity, where two men and a young boy were stabbed to death. Honored were the Maine Warden Service, Aroostook Sheriff's Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Amity Town Manager Margaret Frye, United States Border Patrol, Dover, New Hampshire Police, the local office of the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and three staffers from the State Police Crime Lab, Cynthia Homer, Christine Waterhouse and Michelle Fleury.

Also honored were two civilians who are being credited with helping police identify Camden Hughes, the young boy whose body was found in South Berwick. Steve Scipione was the truck driver who found the pickup driven by the boy's mother and Lisa Gove was the woman who gave police a detailed description of the vehicle.