And the Winner Is...

Chief Michael Lombardo regaled the crowd at the Wilton Police Department Annual Awards Ceremony with tales of honor, valor, hard work and good service on Monday night.

About 50 citizens, as well as most of the police force, gathered in the library's Brubeck room to applaud the officers for a job well done.

Among the awardees were:

• Officers Frank Razzaia and Robert Cipolla for shutting down an ongoing, 5-person drug sale operation being run from a home in Wilton. 
• Detective Peter Trahan for solving a series of car burglaries in the High Field Road area. GPS units, iPods and other small items had gone missing on more than a dozen occasions. Through careful work, the detective was able to track down a seller on the internet peddling the stolen items and return many of them to their rightful owners while the thief admitted to 12 nighttime burglaries. 
• Officer Arnault Baker for responding to a drug overdose and keeping the victim alive via rescue breathing until EMS arrived. The victim still has full brain function thanks to the officer. 
• Detectives Kip Tarrant and Christopher Isidro for helping to solve 12 bank robberies throughout Fairfield County, two of which happened in Wilton and Georgetown.
• Officer Frank Razzaia for finding a suspect while off-duty and working with the Danbury Police to have him apprehended. The suspect was convicted of driving a stolen car and committing many small thefts from cars of purses, wallets and credit cards in Wilton that had been later used for illegal purchasing.

Officer Razzaia received three awards and will receive a bar pin reflecting these honors for his uniform.

The Officer of the Year is the Ceremony's greatest honor and was awarded to Officer Robert Cipolla.

The patrol officer has been with the department since 2006 and graduated first in his class from the police academy, as well as from Marist College.

Chief Lombardi commended Officer Cipolla on his professionalism, thoughtfulness, thoroughness and for his volunteer efforts. He also noted that Officer Cipolla now, "gets his own parking spot in back of the station," with a laugh.

Officer Cipolla thanked his parents and family as he took the podium to receive his award.

He referred to his co-workers as his other family and said, "Some of you are like the annoying older brothers," with a chuckle, "Some of you treated me like family even before I got out of the academy. You guys make it worth it to come to work every day and to know that we have each other's backs."

He also noted that, "It's an honor that the award is being passed down to me by [last year's winner] Detective Peter Trahan, who was my training officer and who made me into the officer that I am today."

The awards ceremony was followed by refreshments provided by the Rotary Club including a beautifully decorated cake from the Village Market.

The full list of 2009 Awardees follows:

Meritorious Police Service:
Detective Kip Tarrant
Detective Christopher Isidro
Sergeant Robert Kluk
Officer Shawn Frendt
Officer Gregg Phillipson

Citation of Commendation:
Officer Frank Razzaia (2)
Detective Kip Tarrant
Detective Christopher Isidro
Detective Scott Sear
Lieutenant Stephen Brennan
Officer Stephen Sisenstein
SRO Richard Ross
Detective Peter Trahan
Captain John Lynch

Life Saving:
Officer Arnault Baker

Letter of Recognition:
Officer Joseph Calorossi
Officer David Hartman (3)
Sergeant Robert Kluk (2)
Officer Robert Cipolla
Officer Frank Razzaia
Officer Robert Nosal
Detective Christopher Isidro