Crime Stoppers Upper Ohio Valley will hold an awards banquet honoring local law enforcement for their heroism and efforts to protect and serve local communities.
Award winners will be honored in the categories of Valor, Community Service, and Career. There will also be a special award honoring a fallen colleague.
The event is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 19 at Generations Banquet Hall, 338 National Road in Wheeling.
Guest Speaker Roy Cavan is a retired FBI Special agent who began his career as a patrol officer in Detroit and later joined the FBI in the early 1970s. Cavan has investigated violent and organized crime and mass fatality incidents including the Oklahoma City Bombing and terrorist-led plane crashes TWA Flight 800 and United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. He was also deployed to Kosovo in support of the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal investigation. He now teaches criminal justice and death investigations with Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio.
The event is sponsored by Belmont Savings Bank, Toriseva Law, LaRoche Tree Service and Information Helpline.
Crime Stoppers Upper Ohio Valley is a program that engages citizens to provide anonymous information about criminal activity to help keep neighborhoods and cities safe in ALL Upper Ohio Valley communities.
The anonymous tipline is answered 24/7/365 by local law enforcement. Tips are confirmed and handed off to the proper authorities. Tips that lead to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward. The program assists local law enforcement and is making a difference in keeping the Upper Ohio Valley and its citizens safe.
AWARD RECIPIENTS
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Sherri Van Tassel
Sherri is a graduate of Duquesne University School of Law. She is a partner at Toriseva Law and leads its domestic relations practice. Community service has been part of her legal practice for over 26 years. She has served as a Guardian Ad Litem to children in the First and Second Judicial Circuits of West Virginia and a number of counties in the state of Ohio. She has also served as a Parenting Coordinator for the Honorable Joyce D. Chernenko.
Sherri’s community service with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office started with her decades-long friendship with Sheriff David Lucas. The two had the opportunity to work together at various times in their professional careers.
When a need to raise funds for the K-9 Division became known to Sherri, she immediately began soliciting funds through various friends. She raised over $1,250 in the first year.
Sheriff Lucas was looking for a way to reach out to the community with various projects but lacked the personnel to do so. The title of “Outreach Coordinator” arose out of that need and a willingness by Sherri and others to step forward.
What began as just “helping out” has now become a full-time volunteer position. Throughout her commitment to BCSO Sherri has helped form the Community Outreach Program Effort (COPE) to serve high-risk individuals during the pandemic. She helped implement the Handle With Care Program for children adversely impacted by life circumstances that involved the help of BCSO staff. She has researched and helped implement the Law Enforcement Explorer Post #7 Program for youth. While continuing to serve as a Post Advisor, she has helped design the Citizens Academy for adults interested in volunteering for BCSO. She helps cover community events including the Belmont County Fair, Shop with a Deputy, and Operation Toy Lift.
She serves as the BCSO liaison to Crime Stoppers Upper Ohio Valley, and is a board member, and member for the Special Events Committee. She has successfully written a grant to help fund the expansion of the BCSO Post #7 Explorer Program and is working with the Sheriff on implementation of a dog park in Belmont County. She is a member of FOPA Lodge #13, has helped with the Hunter Safety Class, and is K-9 Loki’s babysitter.
Sherri’s history of community service runs long. She has been a 4-H advisor for over a decade and served on the Harrison County 4-H Horse Committee, implementing an educational series for 4-H horse youth during the winter months. She served on the Harrison County Extension Advisory Committee for a number of years. She also served eight years as a Commissioner for the Ohio Exposition Commission that oversees the Ohio State Fair and Fairgrounds and is heavily involved in political events.
Sherri is stepmother to two daughters: Kelsie and Korine. She lives near Cadiz on a large horse farm and has shown American Quarter Horses on a local, regional, and national level.
VALOR AWARD
Deputy Brad Mackey Deputy Brad Mackey was selected as a 2022 recipient of the Valor Award for performing a courageous act that helped save a life of an individual in distress in July of 2021. He and Deputy Chad Nixon arrived on the scene of an individual that could not breathe. After calling for a medical emergency assistance, they realized the individual
vidual was in diabetic distress after discovering the 60-year-old male’s diabetes medication in his vehicle. Nominated by Sheriff David Lucas for their valor, both Deputy Mackey and Deputy Nixon acted quickly to save the man’s life.
Deputy Mackey is a former member of the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office and currently employed with the Bridgeport Police Department.
Currently Officer Mackey is a 2009 graduate of Martins Ferry High School and a 2011 graduate of Eastern Gateway OPOTA Police Academy. Officer Mackey continues to advance his education in law enforcement.
Officer Mackey has served in several local police departments, including in Flushing, Shadyside, Bridgeport, Martins Ferry, and Bellaire. From 2019 to 2022, Officer Mackey worked at the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy.
Officer Mackey has had the opportunity to work in several drug task forces including the Belmont County Major Crimes Unit, which allowed him to contribute to ongoing efforts to deter drug and criminal activity throughout Belmont County, Ohio.
Officer Mackey is currently engaged to his girlfriend Chelsea and has two children. They reside in the Bridgeport area.
VALOR AWARD
Deputy Chad Nixon
Deputy Chad Nixon was born in 1987 to Karen Nixon and Neal Luedy both of Shadyside Ohio. Deputy Nixon spent his school years in the halls of Shadyside Local School district and graduated in 2006.
Deputy Nixon was active in local sports and was constantly on the move. From an early age he was passionate about becoming a police officer. It was something that he had always dreamed of doing.
In 2016, after spending a few years as an underground coal miner, Deputy Nixon fulfilled his lifelong dream and graduated from the Zane State College Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.
Deputy Nixon began his career with the Shadyside Police Department along with many other departments along the Belmont County riverfront.
In the late summer of 2020, Deputy Nixon was hired as a Road Deputy with the Belmont County Sheriff’s office where he proudly serves today.
In the fall of 2021 Deputy Nixon achieved another goal that he had set forth and became an Operator for the Belmont County Special Operations Branch.
On Halloween Night 2020, he married Brittany. The couple live in St. Clairsville with their seven children and their Great Dane, Loki.
Deputy Nixon and Deputy Mackey together saved a man’s life in July 2021 and receive the 2022 Valor Award.
CAREER AWARD
Chief of Detectives Ryan Allar
Chief Detective Ryan Allar joined the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office directly after graduating from Barnesville High School in 1996.
In 2005, Chief Allar was assigned to the Sheriff’s Investigative Unit. During his time as a Detective, Chief Allar came to specialize in Sex Crimes and Death Investigations. Chief Allar has been the arresting officer in dozens of cases that have resulted in multiple life sentences for rapists and murderers.
He has been designated a Master Criminal Investigator by The Ohio Police Officers’ Training Academy. In 2003 Chief Allar was awarded the Life Saving Award by the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association. In 2006, the Tri-County Help Center awarded Chief Allar with its Peacemaker Award. In 2007, he was awarded Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. In 2011, Chief Allar was given a Peer-to-Peer Investigation award by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
His casework has been featured on several true crime programs such as Criminal Confessions, The Murder Tapes, and American Detective. Chief Allar is also known to have a wicked sense of humor.
Chief of Detectives Ryan Allar was nominated by Sheriff David Lucas for his stellar career and work ethic over the past 25 years. He has worked tirelessly to ensure the integrity, entirety, and legality of every investigation. He comes into the office at any request, day or night, to assist with investigations and to help other agencies as needed. Chief Allar has become an expert witness for court proceedings. His contribution to the Criminal Investigation Unit has been highly praised by the Prosecutor, The FBI, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations. He is valued for his leadership and honored for his career.
Steven Paul Gitlin II
Probation Officer Steven Gitlin began his employment with the Probation Department on January 1, 2012. His first assignment was with the Mental Health Court as an intensive supervision officer. He was tasked with supervising offenders who had difficult mental health issues that contributed to their criminal behavior. Officer Gitlin supervised those offenders with compassion and clear guidance until 2017, when the Supreme Court closed the Mental Health Court Program.
Steven was then assigned to supervise sex offenders. Again, he provided intensive supervision to one of the most challenging groups of offenders. Steven had a knack for being able to read his caseload and know when an offender was not being totally honest while being questioned. He was then able to draw the truth from that offender. Throughout, Steven managed to provide that same compassion and clear guidance.
When Steven was offered a chance to be assigned to regular supervision cases, he always chose to continue providing intensive supervision because he liked the challenge. He never complained about the tasks he was assigned and always took on his responsibilities in the most professional way.
On November 2, 2021, Steven spent the day at the Brooke County Probation Office in Wellsburg, meeting with offenders on his caseload from Hancock and Brooke Counties. He was on his way back to the base office in Wheeling when the vehicle he was driving southbound on WV Rt.2 near the Brooke and Ohio County line was struck by a vehicle traveling northbound. Officer Gitlin’s death is the first Line-of-Duty death ever experienced by any Probation Department in the State of West Virginia.
Steven Paul Gitlin, II, was born on December 18, 1984, in Wheeling. He was a Probation Officer in the 1st Circuit Court of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
He is survived by his wife Brandi Gitlin; two daughters, Adalyn Rose and Elayna Marie Gitlin; father, Steven Paul Gitlin; Mother Kathy Serig; maternal grandmother, Carolyn May; siblings Michael, Michelle, Stephanie, Amy, Sarah and Jeff; his in laws, several nieces and nephews and close friends, and his beloved dogs, Moose and Ace.
Nominated by Chief Probation Officer Terry Stuck of the First Circuit, Steven was more than a fellow employee to the Probation Department. He was a trusted and beloved friend who will never forgotten. His life and loss have left an indelible mark upon his family, friends, and coworkers.
