Photo courtesy of Dave Millar, Photographic Impressions North
Van Buren County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Graham (from left to right), Holland Public Safety Officer Stephen Manning, and Coloma Township
Police Chief Wesley Smigielski received their POLC Outstanding Service Awards from POLC Director Jim Stachowski. 

By Jennifer Gomori, POJ Editor

Holland Public Safety Officer Stephen Manning, Van Buren County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Graham and Coloma Township Police Chief Wesley Smigielski were lauded for their lifesaving acts of bravery. All three received POLC Outstanding Service Awards (OSA) during the POLC/GELC Annual Conference in Traverse City on Sept. 13, 2024.

HOLLAND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER STEPHEN MANNING
Officer Stephen Manning, who is represented by the POLC, ended a standoff with a gunman, saving the hostage and fellow officers. A sniper with Holland’s Special Enforcement Team (SET), Manning and his team assisted Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office Critical Response Team on Aug. 26, 2023, the morning after a gunman took his mother hostage at a residence on the 5000 block of Vail Ave. in Allendale Township. 

Officer Stephen Manning

The gunman opened fire on the officers after the 56-year-old hostage exited the home around 8:30 a.m., told police to leave and went back inside. Manning’s immediate and precise single shot response caused the 37-year-old suspect to retreat into the home and stop firing. After the hostage was safely out of the home, the gunman fatally shot himself.

“Ofc. Manning’s quick and decisive decision to engage Dustin certainly prevented injury and death to not only the hostage but to all of the officers and deputies who were mere feet away from the suspect,” wrote John Rathjen, a SET K9 Officer who nominated Manning for the OSA. “Ofc. Manning’s actions that day were nothing short of heroic and saved numerous lives. Had Ofc. Manning hesitated or failed to stop the threat, it is very likely that many fathers, husbands, sons and friends would not have come home that day. It was later discovered that several of (the gunman’s) rounds missed our officers by mere inches.” 

Manning participated in counseling and shares his experience helping officers deal with critical incidents in a healthy way. “I handled it real well, but it was still the struggle of being a devout Christian and taking someone’s life,” he said. “I know I did what I had to do to protect the community and my brothers essentially, but not a day goes by that I don’t think about it.”

VAN BUREN COUNTY SHERIFF’S SGT. PAUL GRAHAM
Sgt. Paul Graham, a POLC member, put his safety aside, rushing into a burning home to rescue a man who uses a wheelchair. Graham thought he was going to die during the heroic lifesaving rescue on May 7, 2024. The first to arrive at the 50000 block of 29-1/2 Street in Antwerp Township around 2:30 a.m., he immediately smelled smoke and knew seconds mattered with the man trapped inside.

After breaking down the locked front door, he faced a wall of smoke. He called out to the victim, following his voice to a burning bed in the back of the home. Informed the victim’s wheelchair was broken, Graham picked up the man and carried him toward the exit. Just 5 feet from the front door, the Sergeant recalls thinking, “’Huh, so this is how I go,’” he said. “Then another officer comes in and we carry him out together.”

They got the victim to the porch where Graham collapsed from smoke inhalation. Two officers helped move the victim and Graham to safety before the home was fully engulfed only 2 minutes later. The victim underwent surgery for severe burns and survived. Sgt. Graham was treated at the scene, but refused transport to the hospital, instead returning to work the same day. 

“Sgt. Graham was able to enter the residence and rescue the wheelchair-bound subject before the house trailer became fully involved,” wrote Van Buren County Sheriff’s Capt. James Charon in his OSA nomination letter. “Sgt. Graham suffered minor smoke inhalation during this incident but surely his immediate response and action saved this individual."

“I‘m honored and I’m very surprised because I don’t feel like I did anything that anyone else wouldn’t have done,” Graham said of receiving the Outstanding Service Award.

COLOMA TOWNSHIP POLICE CHIEF WESLEY SMIGIELSKI
Chief Wesley Smigielski, a former POLC member, risked his life to save a POLC-represented officer who was shot during a disturbance call. 

Chief Wesley Smigielski

Around 12:35 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2023, the Chief and Coloma Township Officer Drew Wagner arrived at a home on the 4300 block of Bundy Rd. in neighboring Hagar Township, which doesn’t have a police department. The officers took cover in the backyard where the 40-year-old suspect was said to be hiding with a gun. They heard a gunshot, then a second shot struck Wagner in the shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground. 

“In an incredible act of courage that I personally witnessed … Chief Smigielski told me to stay down behind cover and he returned fire at the suspect, shielding me from the gunman while I was wounded and completely vulnerable on the ground,” Wagner wrote in his OSA nomination letter. “Chief Smigielski ran out of ammunition for his gun. Instead of falling back to safety, Smigielski grabbed a (rake) … and he was ready to fight to the death to defend my life. While the suspect was still advancing and shooting at us, Smigielski exited his cover in view of the gunman, ran to my location, and began assisting me with my wounds.” 

The Chief searched, but could not find Wagner’s gun. “What was going through my mind is this is probably the last time that I’ll be seeing Officer Wagner and my family …,” Smigielski said. “Then I heard gunfire and that was the deputy who took him out for us.”

Berrien County Deputy Aaron Nannfeldt shot the gunman. Police and paramedics provided emergency medical aid, but the suspect died at the scene. Smigielski provided lifesaving aid to Wagner.

“This quick reaction from Smigielski may have been the difference between me surviving and bleeding to death as I had almost lost too much blood before I got to the hospital,” Wagner wrote.