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4 Law Enforcement Officers Praised

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By DAVE NICHOLSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

PLANT CITY - They faced down armed robbers and nabbed drivers too drunk to be behind the wheel. They took down terrorism suspects and someone who shot a bald eagle.

The officers responsible for those accomplishments and more were honored May 13 at an event that has been a Plant City tradition for more than four decades.

A group of business owners founded the East Hillsborough Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner to recognize officers and the dangers they face after sheriff's Sgt. Ben Wilder was killed and Deputy Perry Young wounded July 21, 1962, in rural Plant City. The dinner, now in its 46th year, drew about 425 officers, family members, public officials and others who gathered at the Florida Strawberry Festival's expo hall.

"We pray for the safety for all our law enforcement," said Coleman Davis, who owns several Badcock stores and serves on the East Hillsborough Law Enforcement Appreciation board of directors.

The perils of the profession were underscored by Sheriff David Gee, who asked the audience to remember sheriff's Sgt. Ron Harrison, who was killed in an Aug. 15 shooting. Gee also mentioned sheriff's Detective Chris Baumann, who was shot twice in the chest during an undercover drug operation April 28, 2007, but has returned to duty. Baumann was recognized at last year's appreciation dinner but had to be helped to his feet.

Four agencies - the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Highway Patrol, sheriff's office and Plant City Police Department - each year single out an outstanding officer at the appreciation dinner. The 2008 winners received a plaque, $400 check from the appreciation dinner's board of directors and a $100 Outback Steakhouse gift card from Mosaic.

This year's honorees included:

•Conservation Commission Officer Raymond Sherertz, a 31-year veteran who is a seventh-generation Floridian, 1966 graduate of Avon Park High School, Coast Guard veteran and University of South Florida graduate. He has helped capture terrorism suspects at the Port of Tampa, arrested a suspect for shooting a bald eagle and rescued three boaters from drowning, said his supervisor, Capt. Leo Isambert.

"His dedication to duty is second to none," Isambert said.

•Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Miller, an eight-year veteran who was in the military for 12 years and has bachelor's and master's degrees. Miller has arrested drivers under the influence of alcohol and drugs and otherwise made the streets safer, said Capt. Michelle Carter, acting troop commander.

•Sheriff's Detective Brian Bryan, a 1988 Plant City High School graduate and Navy veteran who joined the sheriff's office in 1997. Gee said Bryan has a knack for catching violent criminals. In the last year, he broke up a robbery and shot a suspect, helped arrest a man who sexually molested a woman he abducted with her young son from a grocery parking lot, and helped capture four men who were on a robbery spree that targeted migrant workers.

•Plant City police Sgt. David Millich, who joined the department in 2002 and has worked as a patrol officer and detective. He was praised by Police Chief Bill McDaniel for a "steely determination" that deters criminals and protects the public. Officers like Millich go beyond the call and "stand between the flock and predators," McDaniel said.

Reporter Dave Nicholson can be reached at (813) 865-4432 or dnicholson@tampatrib.com.

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