It is with great pleasure that the Methuen Police Department announces our Police Officer of the year for 2013. As we are all well aware, there are several Methuen Police Officers who deserve this honor, however, it is believed by many that Detective John Delano has performed above and beyond. The following story dictates Detective Delano's professional dedication to his career and to the citizens of Methuen.
In the late winter and early spring of 2013 the Merrimack
Valley area was being targeted with a string of bank robberies that had reached
a fever pitch, there were fifteen in total. Each robbery was progressively
becoming more violent, sometimes with handguns being pointed into the faces of
helpless bank employees. Detective Delano was assigned by Chief Solomon to work
solely on apprehending those individuals responsible for the robberies.
Detective Delano worked tirelessly on this assignment. He assisted in creating
a joint task force that included area police departments as well as federal
agencies. He also realized the importance of working with bank management and
employees in not only them helping in catching the individuals involved, but
also on educating them on there safety and on what actions they should take
during these robberies. He did this by assisting in hosting a luncheon at the
Methuen Police Department to discuss issues as well as traveling to each bank
in the city on numerous occasions. After a three month investigation, Detective
Delano got his “guy” on Tuesday April 23rd 2013, when the task force Officers
arrested The Merrimack Valley Bandit “Rafael
Beamud Jr “ and charged him with the fifteen bank robberies.
John wasn’t just happy with ending this investigation, as
he was interviewing Mr. Beamud on the bank robberies, he thought that he looked
a lot like the suspect who had robbed a local Methuen convenience store a few
weeks earlier. Leave it to John, he received a full confession on this robbery as well.
On May 5th 2010 at 0300 hours Detective Delano
responded to investigate a brutal attack on a women were she had been kidnapped
at gunpoint and violently raped. As Detective Delano process the crime scene,
collected evidence and interviewed the women, he knew that whomever had
committed this attack was a savage serial rapist. John worked endlessly on trying
to solve this case knowing that this vicious rapist would strike again. In
October Detective Pilz was investigating another kidnapping and assault case
that had occurred in the city. Detective Delano was clever enough to read
between the lines and notice several key facts that were consistent with his
earlier case. This time, the detectives had a suspect. Detective Delano put
together a photo array and showed it to his earlier victim. Upon the victim
seeing the photo she immediately began to shake, cry loudly and yell “THAT’S
HIM!” John knew he had his guy. Detective Delano attained a warrant and the
suspect was arrested.
This case does not end here. The suspect soon made bail
and was back on the street. Detective Delano knew it was only time before he
would strike again. Over two years later, Detective Delano was at a hearing
involving the suspect. The suspect was still free on bail. Detective Delano
watched as the suspect exited the courthouse during a recess in the court
proceedings. After smoking and discarding a cigarette, the suspect returned to
the courthouse. What the suspect didn’t realize was that he had just provided
Detective Delano with the last piece of evidence John needed. John walked over to
the discarded cigarette; the same brand that was John had recovered at the
original crime scene two years earlier that he had submitted for DNA testing.
The DNA was a match. In September 2013,
three years after the case began, the suspect was found guilty of this brutal
assault and was sentenced to over 15 years in state prison. I believe this
investigation alone by Detective Delano has saved countless area women from
being victims of this monster.
Thank You Detective Delano for your dedication and service to the Methuen Police Department and the Citizens of the City of Methuen. Congratulations on achieving the honor of Police Officer of the Year.
Anyone interested in attending the Methuen Exchange Club's Celebration and Award Ceremony, it is Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 6pm at the Merrimack Golf Course 210 Howe Street Methuen, Ma. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by contacting Linda Buell (978) 618-1828.
See below pictures from one of Detective Delano's Bank Robbery task Force meetings.
