Lancaster County sheriff recognizes deputies and citizens with 2025 service awards

At the Jan. 27 Lancaster County Board of Commissioners meeting, Sheriff Wagner presented the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office 2025 annual service awards to deputies and community members for life-saving actions, exceptional duty and long service.

Wagner recognized citizen honorees Michael Brown and Jennifer Miller for extricating and assisting an occupant trapped after a rollover crash; Dwight Tokolski was also recognized for applying a tourniquet to a severely injured motorcycle rider. Deputies honored included Sergeant Colby Dahlke for removing zip ties from a man struggling to breathe, Deputy Dennis Goodhart for rescuing an occupant of a vehicle fire, Deputy Barry Barnett and Officer Brock Wagner for engaging a suicidal youth on a high ledge, and Deputy Taylor Castaneda for de-escalating another suicidal subject. Sheriff Wagner also presented an exceptional-duty award for Sergeant Scott Gaston and honored Investigator Brent Moshek for narcotics and multistate investigation work. Bill Bivin received professional employee of the year recognition.

Award narratives described specific incidents and timelines; for example, Wagner recounted that on March 30 deputies responded to a rollover crash, and that Jennifer Miller, an off-duty Firth Fire and Rescue employee, and Michael Brown aided the trapped driver. For the infant resuscitation case, the deputies performed CPR and the newborn was transported to a NICU but later passed away; the sheriff noted the deputies "provided this baby with the best chance for survival."

Commissioners thanked the sheriff's office and the families of honorees, noting the examples illustrate the day-to-day public-safety work that county employees perform.

No formal board action was required for the awards presentation; the recognitions were delivered during the meeting's special presentation portion.