Watertown Police Get New K-9
K-9 Corporal David Marinaro of the Watertown Police Department and his German Shepard Enzo graduated from canine training school within the Patrol Dog field, along with 12 other teams as part of the 142nd Patrol Canine Training Troop.
A graduation ceremony was held at the Connecticut State Police Training Academy in Meriden on Thursday, December 17.
Class speaker Jeff Moody of the Hartford Police Department said many of the officers came from different towns and had never met before training.
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Police K9 in Temple needs a little help
One Central Texas police department is raising money to make sure their four-legged crime fighters are safe on the job.
In September, Ingo became the newest K9 to join the Temple Police Department. His handler Officer Jeffrey Bragg said even with just three months on the job, Ingo has stayed pretty busy.
“Last week, we had a foot pursuit where the suspect threw an item, and we used him to track where the guy ran, and we found narcotics,” Bragg said.
In addition to tracking people, Ingo is also used for crowd control. According to Bragg, sometimes the sight of a police dog is enough to deter a would-be criminal.
“Having him as a partner tends to make people more apprehensive trying to break the law than having two officers there, because he bites,” Bragg said.
However when Ingo goes on his patrols, he is missing a key piece of equipment — a bullet proof vest.
“It’s not 100 percent to keep him safe, but it helps him stay safer than he would without one,” his handler said.
Bragg said Ingo’s vest will cost about $1,200. To try to purchase Ingo’s vest, the Temple Police Department organized a special fundraiser and demonstration Tuesday in front of the PETCO in Temple.
“Out here, we’re going to do some tracking out in the field, where he’ll pick up a scent and track where someone is running or hiding,” Bragg said. “He’ll also be doing bite work to where he’ll be apprehending a suspect, when he is released by me and given commands to bite.”
They hoped to have onlookers like Paula Smith see firsthand the role police dogs play.
“These are working dogs. And, it’s obvious that they are very good at what they do,” Smith said.
Also among the crowd was 14-year-old Laine Tarby. He said watching the demonstrations taught him an important lesson.
“To stay out of trouble, because Ingo will come after you,” Tarby said.
According to the manager at PETCO, they will be collecting donations of $5-$20 until Christmas Eve. The money will be split between the Temple Police Department and a local animal shelter.
If you are not in the area, you can donate money directly to the Temple Police Department. The phone number is (254) 298-5500.
By Chie Saito
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Boise PD asks public to support K-9 unit
The Boise Police Canine Unit put on quite the Christmas dog show Wednesday, featuring furry enforcers in training as as well as veteran police pooches like Blek.
“The dog lives with me, he goes on vacation with the family,” said Officer Mike Nance, Blek’s handler for the past three years. “He’s the friendliest German Shepherd you’ll ever meet. When I go to work, he goes to work with me.”
But Blek is not the family pet. The German Shepherd from Czechoslovakia is highly trained to sniff out drugs or apprehend suspects, all at the bark of his master’s command.
“He’s had several apprehensions,” said Officer Nance proudly. “He’s a very successful, very experienced dog.”
The police dog show was part of what the department is calling a historic call for public donations to help support the K-9 unit.
With tax-deductible public donations managed by the Idaho Community Foundation, the BPD hopes to expand its 13-dog K-9 unit beyond what the department’s budget can now afford.
The department has created the Boise Police Canine Foundation, a charitable fund that supports the operation of the Boise Police Canine Unit .
The Boise Police Department itself is not allowed to accept donations, though citizens grateful for police services have generously offered to contribute over the years, says Lynn Hightower, police spokesperson.
By partnering with the Idaho Community Foundation, the Boise Police Department can accept contributions toward purchasing new police dogs and supporting its existing dogs.
The ICL will manage fund donations to the Boise Police Canine Foundation, creating efficiency for both the Boise PD and citizens who wish to donate. The ICL also guarantees exposure for the Boise Police Canine Foundation to a wide array of potential donors.
Hightower says the Idaho Community Foundation works with nonprofit organizations throughout the state by gathering funds from individual donors, groups and foundations.
The ICL is able to grow those funds through investments to meet donors charitable objectives, while granting funds for a broad variety of worthwhile and critical projects, like the Boise Police Canine Foundation.
Citizen donations to the Boise Police Canine Foundation will pay for needed improvements and supplies for the canines beyond the department’s annual operating budget.
For example, although many of the departments drug and explosive detection dogs are adopted from local animal shelters, the purchase of a dual purpose drug and apprehension patrol dog can cost between $8,000 and $9,000. A training bite suit, that helps maintain the patrol dogs skills while keeping trainers safe costs $1,300.
The Boise Canine Unit presently consists of four drug detection dogs. Two are currently in training, meaning they are not yet certified for street use. One drug detection dog is assigned to the Boise Police Bandit narcotics unit, one to the Neighborhood Contact Officer unit, and two are assigned to patrol. Boise Police drug detection dogs are adopted from our local animal shelters.
Three of the drug detection dogs are labs or lab mixes, the fourth is a German Shepherd, Belgian Malanois mix.
There are also five explosive-sniffing dogs assigned to the Boise Airport but they are often called upon to respond to any location throughout the Treasure Valley. These dogs are purchased with Homeland Security funds. Four of the explosives detection dogs are labs, the fifth is a German Shepherd..
And four patrol dogs are cross trained in drug detection and suspect apprehension. Patrol dogs are purchased at a young age with some basic training. Many police patrol dogs come from Europe, and are sent to American suppliers who then sell the dogs to police agencies.
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How to Help:
Donations can be made by clicking HERE. Click on donate directly to your favorite fund, and choose Boise Police Canine Foundation.
Donations can also be made by sending a check made out to Boise Police Department Canine Foundation to: ICF at P.O. Box 8143, Boise, ID 83707. Donations are tax deductible and can be made in any amount. Donations made before Dec. 31 can be deducted from 2009 income taxes.
By Scott Logan
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BCPD K-9 unit going through changes
The Brazil City Police Department is experiencing some changes.
Both K-9 Handler/Patrolman Kenny Hill and Patrolman Jeremy Mace are moving on in their law enforcement careers.
According to Brazil Police Chief Dave Archer, Hill recently took a new job with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
“(Hill) was an excellent officer with the department,” Archer recently told The Brazil Times. “He will be missed. We wish him the best of luck in his new job.”
Per department protocols, K-9 Officer Anya had to have a medical check up with the vet, which Archer confirmed she passed with flying colors. However, Anya still needs a handler.
“I never really thought about being a K-9 handler before,” Mace said about his new assignment. “But working as a partner with Kenny and going on ridealongs with Anya, that changed. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Mace said Hill taught him how to work with Anya before he left the department.
Anya has moved into Mace’s home and quickly became a part of the family.
“We’ve bonded quickly,” he said. “Anya is a great asset to the department.
Both will need to attend training at the academy — which Archer said would be scheduled as soon as possible — before going on active duty. But Mace and Anya are training with the two canine units at the Clay County Sheriff’s Department and riding together while Mace is on patrol.
“It’s a way for her to get used to traveling in my car and to me,” Mace said. “We’re learning to work together. I’m really looking forward to working with her at the academy.”
Archer said the department would eventually like to have a second canine unit, but not right now.
“Progress on getting a second canine unit is on hold because we just don’t have the manpower right now. Our focus right now is to bring Anya and Mace up to speed,” Archer said. “We need to get them the training they need to be a successful team.”
However, since the community supports the canine unit, Archer said those interested may still make donations to fund the project.
“We’re really grateful to the public for all their support with not only our department’s unit, but that of the sheriff’s department as well,” Archer said. “The community really benefits from having the dogs as assets in the departments.”
To support the Brazil City Police Department’s canine unit program, contact the Brazil City Clerk/Treasurer’s Office at 448-8403 for more information, or stop by Riddell National Bank to make a donation.
By Ivy Jacobs
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Awwww…..
Girl meets Bosco after raising thousands for him
Bosco’s ears perked up when Katie Cavanagh began to pet him Tuesday.
He leaned into her as she pet him, and Cavanagh smiled.
Bosco never strayed farther than a few feet from his partner, Zanesville Police Department Officer Mike Schiele, but he didn’t shy away from Cavanagh and her family either as they all reached in to pet Bosco.
In just a few weeks, Katie managed to raise nearly $5,000 for Bosco, who was shot twice while on duty Aug. 24.
Schiele also was shot, but he recovered more quickly than Bosco, who still goes to therapy in Columbus three times a week.
Katie Cavanagh and her father, Christopher, talk with Zanesville Police Department Officer Mike Schiele and Chief Eric Lambes. Katie raised nearly $5,000 to donate to the police department's K-9 fund after hearing Bosco, Schiele's K-9 partner, and Schiele had been shot in August. (Leeann Moore,Times Recorder)
Cavanagh and her family traveled from Westerville to meet Bosco. Cavanagh organized several bake sales in Westerville and Zanesville to raise money. She made the phone calls herself to set up the locations and get donated baked goods to sell.
“When you do stuff you don’t expect to get stuff in return, but when you do, it’s really great,” Cavanagh said. “When I started, I never thought I’d get the opportunity to meet him, and look where I am today.”
Chief Eric Lambes, who also was in attendance, said $100,000 has been donated to the police department’s K-9 fund since Bosco was shot.
“We certainly appreciate everything Katie has done. It’s good to see young people out there so civic-minded and service-minded, and willing to put forth the effort to work toward a goal and achieve a goal,” Schiele said.
Cavanagh recruited her parents, Carole and Christopher, her sister, Colleen, 14, and brothers, Kevin, 15, and Connor, 10, for help, but she did the majority of the work herself.
She collected $714 from her first fundraiser in the first two hours, raised around $2,000 at her second fundraiser at Kroger’s in Zanesville and then more than $1,000 at a Columbus Crew game.
Mayor Howard Zwelling, who declared Dec. 22 as Katie Cavanagh Day, described her as a dog lover, a humanitarian and a sweetheart.
Cavanagh’s grandparents, Dick and Bobbie Zdanis, came to see her and meet Bosco, too.
“She took it that one step further,” Bobbie said. “One person can make a difference.”
Cavanagh’s latest school project, a research report on how to make K-9 units’ bulletproof vests lighter, was inspired by Bosco.
“This is pretty in character with Katie. When she hears about something like this she wants to get involved,” Carole said.
Recently, a classmate of Cavanagh’s lost their home to a fire, and she took it upon herself to call her friend’s mom. She made a list of items needed by the family, made copies of the list that she distributed around her school, collected the items and delivered them to the family herself.
“I really like it,” Cavanagh said of her fundraising efforts. “You know it’s going to help. A couple hours of my time is going to make a world of difference for them.”
By Lee Moore
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A Touch of Professionalism
Following a period of turmoil in the Buffalo Police Department, Mayor Jerry Hardesty and the Buffalo Board of Aldermen were seeking a police chief who could bring stability and professionalism. The man they chose was Sam Hartsell, who had 37 years of experience in several police departments, including 20 years as chief at Cassville, Centralia and Republic.
The mild-mannered Hartsell, who always looks neatly dressed and … well, professional … has lived up to those expectations since he was hired in August 2008.
“I think Sam is great for Buffalo,” said Mayor Jerry Hardesty, “and the general consensus among members of the board of aldermen is that he is doing an excellent job. He is making the department more professional.”
Hardesty said that everybody from the state attorney general on down to his former employers have had nothing but good things to say about Hartsell, “and he gets along well with everybody.”
Since becoming chief, Hartsell has stressed to police officers that the public must see them in a positive light. To this end, he wrote a booklet for each officer called, “A Chosen Profession,” to emphasize the moral values needed by police department employees. He also allows “no sloppy dress.”
“They must earn the respect of the public,” he said. “So many officers watch cops on TV, they forget that they are public servants.”
One of Hartsell’s first challenges was to get the department back to full capacity, which is seven full-time officers, including himself. In addition, there are six unpaid reserve officers who work part time. Many of these are people who have graduated from the police academy and want to work full time but haven’t yet found positions.
“A lot of departments don’t have reserve programs because they don’t want the liability,” Hartsell said, “but I find them to be assets who can help us with security and certain events. Some of these have been in other police departments in the past.”
Hartsell also got the police department building cleaned up, added a department mission statement and a police manual. The manual is approximately 1,000 pages and covers just about every possible situation. His handouts to new department personnel include a law enforcement oath of honor and oath of office, and a police code of ethics. Officers are required to sign a receipt of acknowledgment that they have read it and understand it.
The new chief added some evidence-processing equipment and a finger-printing operation, which sits on a stand constructed by members of the city street department. The same workers also built a speaker’s podium for the department. Another professional touch was to add a system for recording interviews with suspects and witnesses.
Constantly trying to improve and uphold the department’s image, Hartsell added photos of all police officers on a wall in the hallway.
“This is so if a citizen has a compliment or complaint about a certain officer and doesn’t know the name, he or she can find the person on the wall,” he said.
One of Hartsell’s goals for the future is to implement a Neighborhood Watch program. This is where neighbors get together in a meeting and agree to become the eyes and ears of the police department and let the department know if there are any security problems.
“The response hasn’t been good so far,” he said, “but I hope we can get more results this summer. Only people from one area have come forward; people may be complacent because not much is happening in their area (regarding crimes, etc.).”
The chief also wants to improve the starting pay of officers, which is now $9.70 per hour, although he realizes this will be tough to do in a down economy.
Hartsell added that he has been building a rapport with Dallas County Sheriff Mike Rackley.
“The sheriff needs manpower help,” he said. “We must help each other.”
The Buffalo Police Department recently hired Tony Kinser as a K-9 officer and has a new drug dog, Goisy (see the Buffalo Reflex, Dec. 9). Hartsell reported this week that Goisy had passed the canine certification and is now certified to detect marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, hashish and crack cocaine.
He and his wife, Patricia, moved to Buffalo from Republic shortly after he was hired. They have two married sons and five grandsons.
By Paul Campbell
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Daughter of gunman helped rescue policeman
A 16-year-old girl who watched her father shoot two Pierce County sheriff’s deputies is being called a heroine for dragging her gun-wielding father to the floor, possibly stopping him from firing additional gunshots.
Bryona Crable may have saved the life of Sgt. Nick Hausner by preventing her father from shooting him a second time, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer said Thursday.
Hausner, 43, was released from the hospital on Thursday morning and spent a portion of the day visiting his gravely wounded comrade, Deputy Kent Mundell Jr. Mundell, 44, is in critical condition and remains on life support at Harborview Medical Center, Troyer said.
Hausner did not talk to the media on Thursday because the wounded deputy wanted to focus his attention on his partner and on celebrating Christmas with his family, Troyer said.
Sheriff’s investigators are still piecing together the events of Monday night at the Eatonville-area home where David E. Crable, 35, opened fire on the two deputies.
Hausner and Mundell were summoned to the Tanwax Lake home of Crable’s brother, Jason, who had reported that his “drunk and belligerent” brother was an unwanted guest. Also home at the time were Bryona and Jason’s girlfriend, Bridget Warren.
David Crable had agreed to leave the home with the deputies, but instead pulled out a handgun that had been hidden in a shirt tucked under his arm and opened fire.
Mundell was shot several times but managed to return fire, striking Crable, Troyer said. Hausner also was wounded in the gunfire.
Before the mortally wounded Crable could fire again, Bryona Crable “jumped on her dad and fought him for his gun,” Troyer said.
“He went down and never got up again,” said Troyer.
The girl then ran outside, summoned neighbors and dialed 911.
Jason Crable and his girlfriend protected Hausner by dragging him into another room, barring the door and administering first aid, while Bryona went for help.
“She’s absolutely a hero, but she’s also a victim. She witnessed her dad being shot,” Troyer said. “She’s had a bad life at her dad’s hands. She saw her dad shoot two deputies and she stood up and did the right thing and tried to help our guys.”
For years the girl has been at the center of family fights involving her father, a man whose life was plagued by alcohol and violence, according to court records.
After the shootings the girl, her uncle and his girlfriend left the Tanwax Lake home near Eatonville with little more than their clothes. The property has been torn to pieces during the criminal investigation. It was more than two days before they were even able to retrieve their cellphones, said Warren, Jason Crable’s girlfriend.
“We’re going minute by minute,” Warren said Thursday morning. “Obviously, we can’t go back to our house, so at this point, everything’s up in the air.”
Lacking relatives in the area, Warren said they’ve been staying with friends. They’re trying to figure out what to do about a funeral for David E. Crable.
The girl’s bleak Christmas has weighed heavily on the minds of sheriff’s deputies and the community, Troyer said.
On Thursday, the Sheriff’s Department, Nordstrom and Toys For Tots gave the girl Christmas gifts, Troyer said. He said that Bryona was appreciative of the gifts but remains stunned about what happened inside her uncle’s home.
On Wednesday, Bryona posted a note on her MySpace.com page that read, “R.I.P. Daddy, I love you.”
“We feel terrible about what happened,” said Colin Johnson, spokesman for Nordstrom. “We wanted to make a small contribution. Our hearts go out to all of the families impacted by this tragedy.”
By Jennifer Sullivan
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Deputy released from hospital; visiting wounded partner
Pierce County sheriff’s Sgt. Nick Hausner has been released from a hospital and paid a visit to fellow Deputy Kent Mundell at Harborview Medical Center.
Both men were wounded Monday in a shootout with David E. Crable, who was killed by gunfire.
Hausner was released from Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis this morning and was driven to the Seattle hospital to visit with Mundell, who is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer. He said Hausner then planned to go home, where he will require additional medical care.
As details on what happened inside the Eatonville-area home where the shooting took place are pieced together, Troyer said it has become clear that Crable’s 16-year-old daughter may have saved Hausner’s life. The girl watched her father shoot Mundell several times and then shoot Hausner. At some point she jumped on her father and dragged him to the ground, keeping him from shooting Hausner again, Troyer said.
The girl then ran outside and called for help. Crable never got up again after she knocked him down.
Today, the Sheriff’s Office, Nordstrom and Toys For Tots will be giving the girl Christmas gifts, Troyer said. “She’s absolutely a hero, but she’s a victim too. She didn’t choose her family,” he added.
Wounded deputies called family men, good officers
A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy severely wounded during a domestic violence call is a family man who loves adventure and gave up a comfortable career in manufacturing to enter law enforcement, friends and family say.
Kent Mundell Jr. was in critical condition Wednesday at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said. He and sheriff’s Sgt. Nick Hausner were wounded Monday night by a man who was killed in the shootout as the two officers were trying to remove him from his brother’s home near Eatonville. Police identified the gunman as David E. Crable, 35, who they say had a history of domestic violence.
Hausner, 43, recovering from his injuries at Madigan Army Medical Center south of Tacoma, is doing well but is worried about Mundell, said family member Larry Erb, who spent time with him on Tuesday.
“I saw Nick this morning; he’s in good spirits,” Erb told The Seattle Times. “He’s looking fine. He’s actually more worried about his partner than himself.”
Relatives and fellow officers gathered at Harborview, where Mundell, 44, is in the intensive-care unit with life-threatening injuries.
His stepbrother, Larry Stafford, told The Times he felt “emptiness, sick to my stomach” when he heard Mundell had been hurt.
Mundell, who lives near Puyallup, loves camping, boating and outdoor sports, Stafford said, and is a licensed pilot who owned a plane and has skydived.
“His motto was: ‘If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.’ That’s how he lived his life,” Stafford said.
Mundell married his high-school sweetheart, Lisa, more than 20 years ago, and dotes on her, his 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, his stepbrother said.
In the 1990s, Mundell worked for a window and door company, becoming a midlevel manager, family members said. But he quit that job to become a sheriff’s deputy.
“He wasn’t a guy who was going to sit at a desk,” Stafford said. “He was wired as a thrill-seeker.”
Mundell “always liked the things that maybe made other people afraid,” said his mother, Pat Stafford.
“He was always the kid who would take up the new sport and just excel at it, whether it was dirt-bike riding or skiing, kite boarding, jet skiing,” she said. “He was always just lunging ahead with a sense of adventure and daring.”
“He’s one of the best fathers I have ever seen in my life,” she added. “That has nothing to do with his being hurt today. I would have told you that a week ago or a month ago.”
Mundell’s stepmother, Dorene Mundell, of Belton, Texas, said she and her husband, Kent Sr., got a phone call at midnight Monday, telling them of the shooting. At first she couldn’t believe it.
“I said, ‘I think you have the wrong number.’”
Mundell loves his wife and children and is close to his extended family, she said.
“He seemed so happy for all of us to be welcomed into his side of the family,” Dorene Mundell said. “My daughters loved him. My only grandson calls him Uncle Kent, and I’m about to cry talking about it.”
Monday’s shootings occurred just over three weeks after four Lakewood police officers were shot to death in Pierce County. Suspect Maurice Clemmons was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer two days later.
A month earlier, Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton was killed and his partner wounded as they sat in a patrol car Halloween night. Christopher Monfort, 41, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Brenton’s death.
Many Lakewood police officers are friends with Mundell and Hausner. Lakewood Police Chief Brett Farrar, who worked in the sheriff’s department with Hausner for 15 years, said he is known for his patience and skill as a trainer for fellow officers.
“He is a good deputy. A smart, sharp guy and a good family man,” Farrar said.
Hausner lives in Eatonville with his wife, Melanie, and two children, ages 14 and 12.
“He’s a real family guy, a real salt-of-the-earth person who would help anybody,” said Erb, Melanie’s uncle. “He’s a throwback to the good old days when families were close-knit and tight.”
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Dallas police officer battling cancer, treatment, mounting bills
As if cancer-stricken Dallas police Sgt. Gregory Epley didn’t have enough to worry about with weeks of grueling radiation and chemotherapy in front of him, he now confronts another worry: the potential loss of his paycheck and thousands of dollars in medical bills.
Epley, 34, quickly blew through about two months of vacation and sick time while fighting a rare form of tongue cancer earlier this year. Now it’s back.
Because he’s the sole provider for his wife and three young children, Epley has been going to work when he can while undergoing treatments. Initially, he thought he might be able to work for much of it, but his earlier assessment has proved too optimistic.
His wife, Anna Epley, said she doesn’t think he’ll be able to report for duty much longer because the treatments have left him extremely ill, tired and barely able to eat, and he may soon have to get a feeding tube.
“He’s realizing it’s pretty rough,” Anna Epley said Wednesday. “Yesterday he was like, ‘This is kicking my butt.’ He was too sick after treatment to work. He threw up all the way home.”
Dallas no longer has a “catastrophic leave bank,” where employees can donate unused leave hours. But the city allows employees to request up to 80 hours of advance sick leave.
Since he’s used his remaining paid time, Epley has requested the use of 40 hours of advance time. He’s trying to save the remaining 40 until closer to the end of his treatment.
“He does not want to ask for help,” said Sgt. Stormy Magiera, a friend and colleague. “He said he just puts the bills in a stack and ignores them because he would get too depressed to see what he owes.”
Epley, a native of Louisville, Ky., originally considered a career as a U.S. marshal or a Secret Service agent. But the waiting list for a marshal’s job was too long when he graduated from Eastern Kentucky University and “the application for Secret Service was so thick that I chunked it in the garbage can.”
The Dallas Police Department hired him in 2000. He made sergeant about a year ago.
“I just like the job,” said Epley, who works as an evening shift supervisor at the city’s Central patrol substation. “I like chasing bad guys.”
Along the way, he met Anna while working an off-duty police job at a Wells Fargo Bank branch. The couple has three children, the youngest of whom just turned 1.
For Epley, the symptoms began in May with what he and his doctors initially thought to be a routine canker sore on the left side of his tongue. But the painful sore wouldn’t go away. He could barely eat. He started losing weight. Then came inexplicable headaches and excruciating jaw pain.
He went from doctor to doctor trying to figure it out. One doctor blamed stress. In late August, a biopsy revealed cancer on the left side of his tongue, a stunning finding given that he doesn’t use tobacco products.
On Sept. 3, surgeons removed the left side of his tongue and used skin from his arm to reconstruct it. Doctors also removed lymph nodes from his left ear to his neck to check for cancer. He was off for about a month after the surgery.
“Everything came back clear,” Anna Epley said. “We thought it was over.”
About two months later, the right side of his tongue started hurting. He went to his surgeon, who told him he’d probably bitten it and not to worry.
“He said, ‘I don’t think it’s cancer. The odds of you having cancer are slim to none,’ ” Gregory Epley recalled.
A week or so later, he noticed a small lump on his tongue.
He underwent his second biopsy two days before Thanksgiving. It revealed a tumor on the right side.
The pain was so bad after that biopsy that he missed another week of work. Some days, he can’t make it through an entire shift, either because he gets severe migraines or he’s throwing up, his wife said.
Earlier this month, doctors removed his back molars and wisdom teeth, leaving his face swollen. He could barely talk.
He began radiation treatments on Dec. 15. He’ll undergo radiation five days a week and chemo once a week.
The prognosis is good because the cancer hasn’t spread beyond his tongue.
So far, the Epleys have shelled out more than $8,000 for medical bills. The bills just keep rolling in.
“I don’t want people to think my problems are any more important than other people’s problems,” Epley said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I don’t want anybody to think I’m complaining.”
Even after Epley completes the seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, he’s facing another six to eight weeks of recovery, during which he probably won’t be able to work much, his wife said.
Two of the Epleys’ children are too young to understand what’s going on. Their 4-year-old daughter realizes he has cancer, but she doesn’t really understand what that means.
Recently, her mother found her pretending that she had a tumor and that her brother was the doctor.
“She said she wants to make a card that says, ‘Daddy, please don’t get sick anymore.’ She wants it big enough to put in the front yard. That made me cry,” Anna Epley said.
By TANYA EISERER
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normal cops or Paranormal Cops?
A&E sets out on a ghost patrol with a team of Chicago-area police officers who spend their off-duty hours as paranormal investigators in the new original real-life series “Paranormal Cops.” The six-episode half-hour series kicks off with a special one-hour season premiere on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 10:30 PM ET/PT on A&E.
“Paranormal Cops” follows a group of larger-than-life cops who walk one beat during the day as real-life Chicago-area police officers and another at night when they apply their forensic and investigative expertise to paranormal casework. Responding to the pleas of people who are victimized by distressing and inexplicable activities in their homes and workplaces, these cops bring their no-nonsense approach to hunting ghosts and real-life police skills to separate the fact from fiction and often happen upon results much scarier than the paranormal.
In “Casa Madrid,” the one-hour series premiere, the team responds to a store manager who is so distraught over events taking place in the basement of his store that he is ready to quit. An investigation turns up paranormal activity and uncovers that the store was once a notorious hangout and gambling hall frequented by figures from the underworld and host to countless crimes, even murder.
The “Paranormal Cops” team consists of investigators Ron Fabiani, Tom Froelich, Austin Weinstock and Pete Schlelich, medium Moriah Rhame, and investigative assistants Brian Jones and Scot Ziarko.
“Paranormal Cops” is produced by North South Productions for A&E. Charlie Debevoise and Mark Hickman serve as executive producers and Mark Marinaccio as co-executive producer for NorthSouth Productions. A&E Executive Producers are Robert Sharenow and Elaine Frontain Bryant.
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