Deputy of the Month Award: Capt. William Murphy received a special away from the Chamber of Commerce for outstanding police work. Making the presentation is Capt. Jim Leavens, left, and Chamber Emcee John Graham. All photos by Mel Toadvine

The Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce has honored two local sheriff’s deputies from the Bravo Station in Lehigh.

They are Sgt. William Murphy and Sgt. Joe Barley. Cape Jim Leavens, commander of the East Zone District of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office took part in a ceremony presenting one of the officers with a certificate, along with Chamber emcee John Graham.

Barley was unable to attend the Chamber luncheon at the Majestic Golf Club, where the presentations were made.

Also during the luncheon, Lt. James Lethen, the assistant commander at the Lehigh Substation was introduced by Leavens who said that former Assistant Commander Lt. Rick Dobson had been transferred.

Leavens told about 70 Chamber members on July 27 that back in April, the Sheriff’s Office got a complaint concerning a burglary in progress in an occupied dwelling on Milstead Ave. The caller identified the suspects as a black female and a black male and said they were attempting to force open the front door of the victim’s home, Leavens said.

Chamber Employee of the Month: Joan Starr, a member of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce’s Ambassador’s Committee, was honored by Chamber Emcee John Graham at the recent meeting held at the Majestic Golf Club.

Murphy, a member of the traffic unit was the first deputy to arrive in the area and as descriptions were being broadcast, Murphy saw a suspicious vehicle coming from the area of the incident, Leavens said.

Murphy stopped the vehicle which rapidly stopped in the driveway of a home on Windermere Drive, he said, and the vehicle was occupied by four people and one of the suspects had an unknown object in his hand. This suspect fled on foot, Leavens said.

Murphy was able to detain the two black females and one black male until additional units arrived, Leavens told the Chamber gathering. He said a perimeter was soon put up and a K9 unit with an aviation unit arrived on the scene, but the fleeing suspect was not immediately located.

However, Leavens said, that through investigation by CID, it was learned that the incident was in fact, an attempted home invasion robbery and not a burglary.

It was also learned that the suspect that fled the deputy was armed with a hand gun and was an active participant in the robbery attempt.

Lt. James Loehen is the new assistant commander at the Brvo District substaton in Lehigh. He was introduced at the Chamber of Commerce recent luncheon.

The Sheriff’s Robbery Unit responded and a man was arrested and charged with attempted home invasion robbery, Leavens said.

A few hours later, Sgt. Joe Barley went back to the area to begin his own search for the missing suspect and a short time later, he found a lone black male matching the description of the suspect, walking along Greenbriar, west of Joel Blvd.

Leavens said Barley stopped the suspect and recovered a loaded .380 caliber handgun from the suspect’s right front pants pocket.

He was arrested by Barley and charged with several failure to appear pick-up orders and with attempted home invasion robbery.

Because of their outstanding police work, they were nominated for recognition by Lt. Scott Reaves, the tour commander of Bravo District.

Meanwhile, the Chamber recognized Joan Starr as the Member of the Month.

Starr was cited “for her dedication and for her unselfish contributions to the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce.” Starr has served on the Lehigh Acres Chamber’s Ambassador’s Committee with what the Chamber called “a tireless work ethic and selfless heart.”

Also honored was Vince Berta as Employee of the Month. He was not there to accept his award, but John Graham, the emcee, said the Chamber was recognizing Code Enforcement Officer Berta who embraced the Westminster Community and all of the Lehigh Acres area with his cooperation and dedication as a code enforcement officer for Lee County.

Graham said Berta was assigned to the Lehigh Acres community for approximately two years and during his term performed “in excellence identifying and abating code violations.”

Berta also served on a task force targeting three cleanup efforts of the surrounding area around Westminster County Club “exhibiting an outstanding work ethic that was above and beyond the call of duty,” Graham said.

New members of the Chamber were also recognized. They included American Loan Modification, Bill Hahne and Carlos Robus; Devcon Security, Jonas Arthur; John Miller of Lehigh; Lee Kidney Center, Dr. Ganesh Shenoy and Dr. Ankush Gulati; and the West Coast Injury & Rehabilitation office, Antonio Rios.