D received a memo from his department’s Chief of Police this week, commending him on his conduct during a burglary which occured on his watch on Christmas Day.

Orlando Sentinel, The (FL)
December 28, 2005
Estimated printed pages: 1
TAVARES — A 25-year-old man faces numerous criminal charges after police said they caught him breaking into a McDonald’s on Christmas Day.
A witness told Umatilla police officers that a man in a hooded shirt later identified as Steven Ridenour threw a large rock through the drive-through window and then climbed into the fast-food restaurant off State Road 19 before 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Officers searched the building and found an open safe and trays of money in a back room, according to reports.
Officers, who initially could not locate the suspect, said they knocked several tiles from the ceiling and found Ridenour of Umatilla hiding above them.

Ridenour had $277 in his pockets, and another $373 was located in the ceiling, police Chief Doug Foster said. The suspect also had keys to a 1996 Mazda Miata that later was reported stolen by a Umatilla woman, according to police reports.

Foster said Ridenour was an employee at the McDonald’s.

Ridenour was charged with burglary, resisting without violence, obstruction and two counts of grand theft. He was being held Tuesday in the Lake County Jail on $31,000 bail.

Memo: Erin Cox and Robert Sargent of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Edition: CENTRAL FLORIDA
Section: LAKE
Page: J1
Column: Lake

This has been his first ‘big case’. He was in charge of the crime scene and even in charge of the deputies from Lake County. Chief complimented his professionalism, and basically said he was a credit to the force. (I’ll copy out the memo later, when I have it in front of me). We want to save the memo for future records. He is out of training now, though, and so drives around by himself in his ‘own’ car (Police cars are shared between the various shifts).
Only 16 days to go before I finish work, not that I’m counting .