The Kane County Chiefs of Police Association, in partnership with the Batavia Moose Lodge #682, announce the winners of the Louis Spuhler Award for outstanding police work in 2021. The co-winners are Aurora Police detective Christopher Cox, and Elgin Police K-9 senior patrolman Justin Brown.
The following is a summary of the incident taken from the nomination letter submitted by Aurora Police chief Keith Cross:
On January 16, 2021, at approximately 4 p.m., the Aurora Police Department received a 911 call for a carjacking and a gunshot victim at a fast food restaurant. Officers arrived on scene and discovered that the victim was parked in the lot eating her food when she was approached by numerous offenders. These offenders subsequently shot the victim, pulled her from her vehicle, and stole it. Responding officers located another vehicle stolen in another carjacking in DeKalb County that was left on scene due to having run out of gas. Detective Cox was assigned the case and began working with other agencies that were related to a string of car-jackings throughout Illinois and neighboring states. Detective Cox, along with other Aurora detectives, the FBI, and the US Attorney’s Office, began conducting surveillances, speaking with witnesses and other police jurisdictions to establish a list of possible suspects. These interviews, along with evidence from all involved vehicles lead to several suspects, associates and locations during an extensive investigation over several weeks. Cell phone data, evidence, and other information led to active surveillances of several locations. The result of the investigation was the arrest of a 16-year-old juvenile who was charged as an adult with 3 Class X felonies and three additional related felony charges. The investigation resulted in two additional arrests with the last arrest coming almost five months to the date after this incident occurred.
The following is a summary of the incident taken from the nomination letter submitted by Elgin Police deputy chief Adam Schuessler:
On Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021 at approximately 5 p.m., Elgin Police 911 received a frantic call from a woman stating her husband was crushed by a car when a vehicle had fallen off of cinder blocks while her husband had been working under the vehicle in the garage. The victim was also reported to be unresponsive. Officer Justin Brown was dispatched to the scene and upon his arrival he immediately observed the garage door to be closed and crumpled outward, preventing its use. As officer Brown approached the door to the residence, he was greeted by panicked family members who rushed him through the house into the garage. Once inside the garage, Officer Brown observed the lower half of a man laying underneath a vehicle that was now crushing him.
Officer Brown located a floor jack and while he began lifting the vehicle, he directed family to pull the man from under the car. Once free from the car, officer Brown began chest compressions as fire department personnel were arriving. Officer Brown continued assisting the fire department with chest compressions as they began triaging the subject. The victim ultimately regained a pulse and was stabilized. After a lengthy recovery in the hospital, the gentleman was able to return home. Officer Brown’s quick thinking and immediate action certainly helped save the man’s life.
The Louis Spuhler Award is named after a retired Lieutenant from the Kane County Sheriff who approached the Batavia Moose Lodge with an idea to recognize the top police officer in the county. Lt. Spuhler passed away before he could see his idea put into action. The award was named in his honor. This was the 45th annual event, which was held at the Riverside Receptions in Geneva. Mayor of Geneva, Kevin Burns was the keynote speaker. The event was a celebration of the outstanding achievements in law enforcement in Kane County and was the first in-person awards banquet since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional nominees for this year include:
Officer Pedro Rodriguez Aurora Police Department
Officer William Joshua Sullivan Aurora Police Department
Officer Derek Bansley Bartlett Police Department
Officer Nikko Ingrassia Bartlett Police Department
Officer Hugo Nunez Elburn Police Department
Sergeant Bradley Jerdee Geneva Police Department
Detective Bob Pech Geneva Police Department
Trooper David Lopez Illinois State Police District 15
Deputy Steven Burch Kane County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Susan Deuchler Kane County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Wesley Phelps Kane County Sheriff’s Office
Officer James Levand Campton Hills Police Department
Detective Sergeant Greg Mayyou Montgomery Police Department
Detective Chris Johnson Montgomery Police Department
Detective Jason Friedrich Montgomery Police Department
Officer Steve Mattas St. Charles Police Department
— Commander Mike Frieders, Geneva Police Department, chairman, Kane County Chiefs of Police Association Awards Committee