Police thanked for work against impaired driving

There was a lot of blue at the Dewey Beach Hyatt Place Nov. 14, as officers from across the state gathered for a Mothers Against Drunk Driving awards ceremony.

Sharon Bryson, director of the Office of Highway Safety, thanked about 50 officers who attended the ceremony. She also thanked their spouses for their support.

“It is not an easy role to play,” she said. “I greatly appreciate it.”

State Farm Insurance joined OHS and MADD to thank officers for their role in combating drunk driving.

Col. William Crotty, who was recently named head of the Delaware State Police, thanked officers for working to eradicate impaired driving across the state, which includes drunk driving and driving under the influence of drugs.

“Together we’re a team,” he said. “Each trooper and officer in this room knows each time they intervene with an impaired driver, it is a save.”

Marie Ceribelli, who lost her husband to a drunk driver, shared her story of the turmoil she and her three kids were thrown into after her husband’s untimely death.

“You go into a fog. You don’t even hear what they say,” she said, recalling her emotions after police notified her that a drunk driver plowed into her husband while he was working at a construction site in the Bronx, N.Y.

“That year, you’re just numb,” she said.

The driver fled the scene, she said, but was caught with a blood alcohol level of 0.24 when arrested. A month later, Ceribelli said, he was again arrested for drunk driving, but this time he had a gun in his car.

Local officers receiving awards included Patrolman Phillip Poorman of the Lewes Police Department; Pfc. Kyle Cox and Cpl. Brandon Smith of the Milton Police Department; and Sgt. Jennifer Kerin and Cpl. Christopher Story of the Fenwick Island Police Department.