'Proud of who I work with': First responders in Hunterdon honored with service awards

The story didn't add up for Clinton Township Police Sgt. Joseph Sangiovanni.

On July 2, 2022, the driver of a vehicle Sangiovanni had stopped with an expired temporary Virginia registration said they and three passengers were heading to New York to attend a funeral.

But they had no luggage.

And after a K-9 indicated the presence of drugs, officers had the right to search the vehicle and found two bookbags in the backseat, one containing two loaded handguns, $10,000 in cash and a large quantity of marijuana.

Then one of the backseat passengers took off running.

Not knowing if the backseat passenger was armed, Clinton Township Patrolmen Frank Praino and Christopher Ramos pursued him on foot as he jumped over a fence to Interstate 78 and ran through the woods where police lost sight of him several times before a K-9 officer found him and he was apprehended.

For their actions in pursuing, tracking and apprehending the suspect without any major injuries, Sangiovanni, Praino and Ramos as well as Flemington Officer Greg Zytko and his K-9 partner Jax will received meritorious service awards Wednesday during the 200 Club of Hunterdon County Valor & Merit Awards Banquet.

This is the fourth time Sangiovanni is being honored with a 200 Club award.

"I love the job and I'm proud of who I work with," said Sangiovanni, adding this will be the first 200 Club award for Praino and Ramos.

"There is a lot of different aspects to rescue work, fire, EMS, police work and there’s no one thing that's more important than the other, so we appreciate everyone's help with everything," Sangiovanni said.

Other honorees

Also receiving meritorious services awards are Lambertville Police Sgt. Anthony Memolo, Officer Kevin Bereheiko, Lambertville Volunteer Firefighter and Hunterdon County Deputy Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Andrew Camp and volunteer Lambertville Firefighters Donald Hart and Gavin Hart, for their response to a fire at the South Hunterdon Apartments on Jan. 12 and rescuing a resident who later died from his injuries.

New Jersey State Police Trooper Iman Martinez, Trooper John Caemmerer, Sgt. Christopher Waanders and Trooper Juan Jacome are receiving a unit citation for their actions Jan. 16 in getting a resident of The Commons complex in Lebanon Borough to voluntarily surrender after apparently firing several shots in the neighborhood and then barricading himself inside his home which contained weapons and illegal fireworks.

More: 'Just did their job': Franklin Township first responders among valor award recipients

New Jersey State Police Staff Sgt. David Penna and Troopers Eric Deery, Zach Manley, Jeff Florkowski and Martinez are receiving a unit citation for apprehending a suspect who attempted to elude the State Police on Nov. 26, 2022, and who attempted to escape the justice system by not showing up for a Nov. 29, 2022, trial on child sexual assault and child endangerment charges.

Life Saving Awards are being presented to South Branch EMT and Firefighter Jason Mayer and EMT Patrick Kochanowski for their response to a May 1, 2022, condo development fire in which three people had jumped from the second and third floors to escape.

High Bridge Fire Chief Sean Smith is receiving a Life Saving Award for rescuing a woman on the third floor of a townhouse development in an early morning fire on May 1, 2022, using a ladder.

And New Jersey State Police Sgt. Michael Delgaizo, and Troopers Jacome, Peter Munoz-Aquino, Filip Konieczkowski, Manley and James Thompson are receiving unit citations for their response to the May 1, 2022, fire.

The Clinton Township motor vehicle stop

In the early morning hours of July 2, 2022, Sangiovanni, a 16-year veteran of the Clinton Township Police Department, was behind a vehicle when he saw an expired paper Virginia temporary registration flipping over a Virginia license plate and made a motor vehicle stop.

He walked up to the vehicle, identified himself, asked the driver for their documents and explained why the vehicle was stopped. As the driver looked for the documents, Sangiovanni noticed the two rear seat passengers were asleep and not wearing seatbelts. He also shined his flashlight in the backseat, when the driver said he should shine the light by her.

Sangiovanni said that seemed unusual and he believed the driver was trying to distract him from the backseat. The driver also indicated they were going to a funeral in New York, had no luggage in the vehicle and planned to buy clothes when they arrived.

As other officers arrived, Sangiovanni also asked for the identification of the rear-seat passenger on the driver's side who had a tattoo of an eight ball on his cheek. The passenger initially gave police his twin brother's name but with the tattoo, police were able to confirm his real identity.

The driver declined to give consent to have the vehicle searched but said police could call out a K-9. Sangiovanni contacted Flemington K-9 Officer Greg Zytko and asked for his partner Jax to conduct a sniff for drugs. Jax give a positive indication for narcotics.

With all the occupants out of the vehicle, police searched the vehicle and behind the driver's seat, Ramos found a bookbag with two handguns. When he alerted the other officers, another rear-seat passenger, a man, ran off toward Dunkin’ heading to the area of Interstate 78 westbound near a dark, wooded area.

"We weren't sure if the individual who ran was armed or not," Sangiovanni said.

Ramos, Praino and Zytko with the assistance of a Town of Clinton police officer chased the man on foot while the other vehicle occupants were secured at the scene.

Police found five handguns, all loaded, some with bullets in the chamber, and one handgun which had been reported stolen along with $10,000 in cash and a large quantity of marijuana.

Praino, who has served on the police force for nearly four years, said the officers lost sight of the man who ran in the woods before he and Ramos saw him pop up from the bushes and jump over a fence along the highway. The officers also hopped over the fence and took off running after the man before losing sight of him again.

The officers found the man's shoes before the police K-9 began tracking the man. Police wanted to apprehend the man before he had a chance to break into a nearby home or car.

"This time of night I think it was 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. it was very dark and the area in which we were in actually gave him a tactical advantage to shoot at us if he did have a gun," said Ramos, who has served with the police department for five years. "Uphill he had coverage, tractor-trailers are passing us as a high rate of speed so we can't hear and we can't see him but he can see and hear us as we're walking up and down the highway trying to figure out where he is. That was probably the most dangerous part."

After about 10 minutes K-9 Jax found the man up a hill off the highway in an area with bushes and poison ivy. The man screamed, but police said he was not bitten by the dog. Praino took him into custody.

Found in the man's possession was $600 in cash and a small amount of marijuana. Additional K-9 units searched the area to see if any weapons had been tossed or hidden but results were inconclusive.

Sangiovanni said all four people were taken into custody and because no one took possession of the weapons, everyone was charged in the case which remains ongoing.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ police, fire, EMS honored by 200 Club of Hunterdon County