YORKTOWN, N.Y. —Chief of Police Robert Noble returned to Town Hall on March 4 to recognize what he lauded the department’s “excellent work” in 2023 and 2024. He praised officers for their dedication, noting that they often put themselves in harm’s way. Calling police work a vocation, he highlighted their “dedication, compassion, bravery, and self-sacrifice” before the board, the officers’ families, and community members.
The Yorktown Police Department Civilian Recognition was awarded to SPCA Westchester workers Elizabeth Tavares, Rich Ocaftel, Kristin Bohler, a Yorktown community service worker and animal control officer, Town Clerk Diana Quast, and Donna Diana, who accepted the award for her late husband, former Town Supervisor Thomas Diana.
Noble acknowledged their swiftness and commitment to their jobs as they performed their respective duties during a Jan. 30, 2023, welfare check, where two people were found dead in a home on Cordial Road, along with more than 100 cats.
“They worked flawlessly in tandem to remove a staggering number of cats, while doing their best to preserve the scene integrity of our investigation,” Noble said. “All of the individuals that you see before you performed their respective duties at a high level in the 48 hours after our initial discovery. Their cohesiveness allowed us to fully investigate the unfortunate passing of two Yorktown residents, who from what we later learned were very good and well-meaning people.”
Noble said many of the cats recovered by Tavares and Ocaftel were adopted by “loving families.”
Excellent Police Duty awards went to Officer Gino Argiro, Officer Michael Campion, Detective Michael Caprio, Officer Domenico Dinotte, Detective James Hannigan, Officer Colin Houlihan, and Officer Michael Uhl. PO Brandon Schmelmer received a Certificate of Commendation, while Lifesaving Awards went to Officers Bryan Bennett and Brian Mundy.
Officer Domenico Dinotte was recognized for his quick response in an Aug. 20, 2024, incident when he was approached by a civilian who reported a stabbing at Tee Bar & Grille. Dinotte provided “life-sustaining medical attention” and obtained “investigatory information, which led to the arrest of the assailant.”
Officer Colin Houlihan and Detective James Hannigan were recognized for “their outstanding and efficient investigation” in August 2024 that “culminated in a drug dealer being removed from our streets,” Noble said.
Officers Gino Argiro and Michael Uhl, along with Detective Michael Caprio, were awarded “for their performance of their police duties in an outstanding and efficient manner” during an April 7, 2024, incident. At 2 a.m., Argiro was on patrol when he saw a car traveling with an inoperable headlight. During the traffic stop, a pistol was found in the area of the passenger seat. The suspect ignored cues to exit the vehicle, physically resisted arrest, and was forcibly removed from the vehicle.
Noble explained that using proper training and defense tactics, “Officers Argiro and Uhl were able to place the subject in handcuffs and effect the arrest.” Later it was found that “the firearm was a ghost gun.” Caprio was able to “get the subject, who gave conflicting stories” to Argiro and Uhl “to confess to knowingly possessing the firearm.”
Officers Michael Campion and Brandon Schmelmer responded to a report of an assault in progress of two senior citizen women at the Wynwood Oaks Apartments on Oct. 16, 2023, just before 6 p.m. When Campion arrived on the scene, he located the suspect outside, who then began to approach him with the knife concealed beneath his shirt.
“Officer Campion confronted the suspect and gave verbal commands for the suspect to drop the knife,” Noble explained, adding that “the suspect complied” and Campion arrested him.
“From the initial call for service to police headquarters, to Officer Campion and Officer Schmelmer arriving and arresting the suspect, and then providing aid to the victims, all occurred in under 10 minutes.”
Noble said he has recommended Detective James Hannigan for a Westchester County honor in addition to his Yorktown Excellent Police Duty award over his response to a November 2021 car fire, where the sole occupant of the vehicle died. Hannigan organized a “lengthy investigation” into this death, which an autopsy revealed that the operator died from smoke inhalation and a lethal dose of fentanyl in his system.
Hannigan, a uniformed patrol officer at the time of the investigation, “shared intelligence that he was investigating a local drug dealer” for “narcotics sales in the Lexington Avenue area [and] continued to gather intelligence and factual information” that the suspect “was continuing to sell narcotics, despite believing that narcotics he had sold caused a fatality.”
A federal arrest warrant was obtained against the suspect for the distribution of fentanyl resulting in the death of another person and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. On Dec. 4, 2023, members of the DEA, county department of public safety, state probation and YPD arrested the suspect, who is now facing a minimum federal prison sentence of 20 years.
Officers Bryan Bennett and Brian Mundy earned Lifesaving Awards award “for their excellent judgment and performance of duty, which was instrumental in saving a life” in a July 14, 2024, two-car motor vehicle accident that left one victim trapped inside one of the vehicles. Noble said the officers climbed into the vehicle and performed lifesaving CPR before members of the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Empress Paramedic continued medical care on the scene. Noble said “Lieutenant Foley was advised by the paramedics on the scene that Officers Mundy and Bennett saved the individual’s life.”
The Town Board issued proclamations recognizing March as Women’s History Month, Irish American Heritage Month, and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. Supervisor Ed Lachterman called all three “important” distinctions.
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