MONTE VISTA— One officer has been promoted to sergeant and two others were commended for superior service to the public.
Robby Martinez was sworn in as the new sergeant for the Monte Vista Police Department at the Thursday, Nov. 2 meeting of the Monte Vista City Council. Martinez has served the department for around seven years. Monte Vista Chief of Police John Rosecrans administered the oath of office to Martinez. “Robby came out on top in a search process that included competitors all the way from the Front Range and Denver metro area. He did a great job representing himself, his department and his community. We’re happy to not only keep and promote him but to have had the best candidate out of a pretty good pool of applicants,” stated Rosecrans.
Martinez’s girlfriend Tara Gonzales was present and pinned on his new sergeant badge. Several officers from the department also attended to show their support of their new sergeant.“I appreciate the opportunity. I will continue to protect and to serve,” said Martinez.
Officers Brian Ruybal, Heath Hart and Robert Pino were also commended during the council meeting. Ruybal, Hart and Pino each received an outstanding service award for assisting a family that needed help installing a door. “This is pretty cool. On the Monte Vista Community Awareness and Support Facebook page the following was put out: ‘Need some help. My son’s grandpa who is a veteran got a screen door to put on the back door. Our power tools don’t work and we can’t lift too much. Is there someone who can help us put this door on? It would be greatly appreciated,” said Rosecrans.
After the initial message the man posting, Keith Vigil, shared some more news. An hour later the doorbell rang and Ruybal, Hart and Pino were at the door to help the family install their new screen door. “I feel these officers need to be honored. Their random act of kindness is amazing. I was so shocked to see the officers show up to do this for our family. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the kindness, and I was in tears,” wrote Vigil.
Ruybal received a second outstanding service award. “Brian decided he was really going to go for it in the same couple of days. He ran into a couple that was trying to get out of town but were out of gas. Officer Ruybal explained to the couple that panhandling was prohibited. The couple explained they were out of gas after spending a week in Alamosa looking for work. They had spent all of their money on food and hotel rooms. After Officer Ruybal received clearances and learned they were telling the truth he agreed to fill up their tank with gas so they could be on their way back to California,” said Rosecrans.