Connellsville police officer retires
CONNELLSVILLE – A 23-year veteran of the city police department has decided to turn in his badge. “I made a promise to myself a long time ago that when I turned 45, I was going to get out of police work,” said Tom Cesario. “I’ve kept that promise.”
The former Connellsville police detective lieutenant submitted his letter of retirement Aug. 26, much to the dismay of the department chief and his good friend, Stephen Cooper.
“I came here just a few weeks after Tom, and not only have we had a long and good friendship, he is someone I have counted on and depended on to be here as a co-worker,” said Cooper. “Although he’ll be just a telephone call away, he won’t be sitting in that office across from me, and I won’t be able to walk in to get his advice or to talk over a case. I will miss him.”
The men in blue that walked the beat in 1978 while he was working at the former Gigliotti’s store on Crawford Avenue lured Cesario to police work.
“I got to know some of them, and when an opening came up, they told me I should take the (entrance) test, and I did,” he said. “The rest is history.”
Cesario said during his tenure on the force, the department and the city have undergone many changes.
“In 1979, the department had 23 officers and around-the-clock, in-house dispatching,” he said. “There were dedicated foot patrols to a downtown full of businesses and the West Side and shopping centers, when officers were available.”
He recalls that those on patrol would check a call box on Brimstone Corner for information from the department.
“So much has changed,” he said. “Today, officers have a high level of education, a more extensive and diverse training program, unlike their predecessors.
“There are less officers doing more physical and mentally challenging work. The call boxes have been replaced with digital radios, pagers and cell phones.”
While the level of property crime remains at the top of the department’s investigation list, Cesario said crimes related to computer use are swiftly gaining the attention of law enforcement.
“Computers have bred several types of crime that were never dealt with in the past,” he said. “Identity theft, child pornography, counterfeiting and stranger abduction were crimes that were seldom seen by police departments.”
With increasing workloads, Cesario said, the city should consider assigning a second officer to conduct criminal investigations. With his departure, Detective Lt. James Bielecki will handle the department caseload.
The retiring officer said he has enjoyed his tenure with the department and finds it difficult to distinguish the highlight of his career.
“I can’t think of one day when I didn’t want to go to work,” he said. “Every day has made an impact on my life, whether it’s been a child’s smile, a call with someone thanking me for my efforts or sharing a laugh with a co-worker.
“If I were to pick a few, I would say every sex offense where the victim was a child and the bad guy went to jail, the (Joseph) Minerd case that challenged me to achieve a quality of work that I didn’t realize I was capable of and the (Steven) Bender homicide case where there was an incredible amount of work. But, none of these cases were solved by me alone. It took nearly every member of the police department to bring these people to justice.”
Minerd was convicted of placing a pipe bomb in the home of a Connellsville woman that exploded and killed her and her 3-year-old daughter.
Bender was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Marvin Knieriem Sr.
The one case that he regrets not being able to solve is the murder of Connellsville resident Curtis Haith.
“It haunts me that no one has stepped forward to offer the pieces to the puzzle that we still need,” he said.
“I know someone out there knows something, and I only hope that they find the courage to come forward, because the killer or killers are still out there.”
His retirement from the department does not translate into Cesario staying home and playing with his dog. Instead, he will conduct insurance investigations for the Harleysville Insurance Co.
“I’m still doing investigations, just in a different venue,” he said.