The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office honored deputies, detention staff, civilian employees, volunteers and partner agencies at its 2026 Third Quarter Awards Ceremony on October 29 at the agency’s Operations Center. The honorees included deputies who pulled a disabled elderly man from a burning Palm Coast home and the multi-agency team behind a three-day sex offender sweep.
Sheriff Rick Staly presented several Life-Saving Awards, a Sheriff’s Citation, Unit Citations, Distinguished Service Certificates and Certificates of Appreciation. Four employees received Employee of the Month recognition, and nine reached years-of-service milestones.
“The takeaway from today’s awards ceremony is that it takes everyone working together to keep our community safe and deliver for our residents,” Staly said. “Our employees, volunteers, public safety partners, and citizens all played a part in efforts to make Flagler County safer, and it’s an honor to be able to recognize them.”
Sheriff’s Citation for sex offender operation
Detective Lauren Broomfield received the Sheriff’s Citation. She volunteered on February 19, 2025, to serve as the part-time sex offender detective for the Major Case Unit while carrying a full caseload. She moved into the job full time in late 2025.
Broomfield changed the monitoring of the county’s 140-plus registered offenders from a mostly annual operation to year-round checks. She also built working relationships with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local Department of Corrections Probation Office.
She coordinated the first sex offender operation of its kind in Flagler County. From August 25 to 27, 2026, the teams made 42 arrests and filed 168 felony registration-violation charges. The Sheriff’s Office called it one of the most successful three-day sex offender operations ever conducted in Florida.
Personnel from five agencies received a Unit Citation for the work, which the agencies called Operation Offenders: Endgame. They were the Sheriff’s Office, FDLE, Florida Department of Corrections Probation and Parole, the Flagler County Emergency Communications Center and the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. The team addressed violations at 84 locations.
Life-Saving Awards
On July 29, deputies went to a Palm Coast home after an alarm company reported activated smoke alarms. They found dense smoke and searched for residents. They found a disabled elderly man lying on the ground beside an open door, near visible flames, and carried him out.
Corporal Craig Rossi, Master Deputies Edward Faircloth and Laura Jenkins, and Deputies Thomas Butler, Caden Van Pelt and Johnathan Zalak received Life-Saving Awards. The Sheriff’s Office said their actions likely prevented a more serious outcome.
Deputy First Class Vincent Mistretta received an award for a September 13 call. A 69-year-old man had accidentally severed his hand with power tools. Mistretta arrived first, recognized the injury as life-threatening and applied a trauma tourniquet. The man and his severed hand were flown to a hospital.
Two more Life-Saving Awards came from a September 17 incident at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. A Code White was called in Annex Housing after an inmate tied a sheet around his neck and to the cell door. Two detention deputies who arrived first opened the cell, removed the sheet and kept the man in the recovery position until medical staff and Fire Rescue arrived. He survived and received hospital treatment.
Inmates Jacob Goodman and Traycan Verdell also received awards. Goodman, the man’s cellmate, found his emergency button was not working and called to a nearby cell. Verdell pressed his own button without hesitation. The Sheriff’s Office said their quick response got deputies into the cell in time.
Unit Citations
- Jail kitchen fire: On August 8, a warmer in the detention facility’s kitchen sparked and caught fire during a cleaning detail. Deputy Jarique Williams called a Code Red. Bravo Squad put the fire out with extinguishers under Sergeant Brian Capobianco before the fire department arrived.
- Palm Coast shooting: On August 7, deputies responded to a reported shooting. The Sheriff’s Office said the victim’s ex-boyfriend had unlawfully entered the home and fought with her. During the struggle, the suspect fired a gun and hit a second victim in the pinky finger, a non-life-threatening injury. He fled, and deputies found his vehicle on the highway. After a traffic stop, they learned he had run into a nearby residential area. A coordinated search ended with his arrest in the B Section.
- September 30 Palm Coast response: Deputies answered a disturbance involving weapons in the W-Section. They found multiple gunshot victims and learned another victim might be barricaded inside. Deputies went into the residence, located and removed several victims, tried lifesaving care and worked to secure the scene for medical personnel.
- Jermaine Williams Sr. trial: Seven court security members received a citation after Judge Dawn Nichols expressed appreciation for their handling of the death penalty trial. The judge cited heightened security, attention to the defendant’s due process rights and strict adherence to courtroom procedures.
Distinguished Service Certificates
Deputies Jonathon Kusek and Jake Moorhead received certificates for the September 30 response. The Sheriff’s Office said both knowingly put themselves in harm’s way while an armed suspect was still believed to be inside. Moorhead directed deputies as they cleared the home. Kusek began lifesaving measures on a critically injured victim.
Citizen Observer Patrol Chief Roberson Brown Jr. received a Distinguished Service Certificate and a Certificate of Appreciation. He oversees the volunteer unit and has volunteered 1,825 hours so far in 2026.
Deputy Nicholas Huzior also received a certificate. In September, he made more than 40 traffic stops, 15 arrests and handled 114 calls for service while attending SWAT and UAV training days.