Greater Washington Law Enforcement Lauded For Fight Against Drunk Driving

26th ANNUAL EVENT HONORS LOCAL POLICE IN FIGHT AGAINST DUI

Washington, DC, December 15 — Seventeen (17) Washington-metropolitan area police officers were cited today for their “outstanding commitment in the fight against drunk driving in Greater Washington” and presented with the area’s 26th-annual “Law Enforcement Awards of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention.”

Bestowed this morning at a regional ceremony held in McLean, Virginia, the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) presented its 2023 Law Enforcement Awards to:

Officer Zachary Anderson                                   Alexandria Police Department

Corporal Steven Yanda                                       Arlington County Police Department

Officer Ashley Kumar                                         Arlington County Police Department

Officer Zackery Lauw                                         City of Falls Church Police Department

PFC Maurice Anderson                                       City of Fairfax Police Department

PFC Brian Castello                                             Fairfax County Police Department

PFC Bryce Cooper                                              Town of Herndon Police Department

Deputy First Class Tyler Giles                              Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office

Corporal Anthony Wallace                                   Maryland State Police

Officer Jeremy Brady                                          Metropolitan Police Department

Corporal Joshua Morris                                       Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Sergeant Patrick Kepp                                         Montgomery County Police Department

PFC Juan Rodriguez                                            Prince George’s County Police Department

Officer Godson Vondee                                        Prince William County Police Department

Officer Aram Karapetyan                                      United States Capitol Police

Officer Kevin Brennan                                          United States Park Police

Trooper Jordan Corvin                                          Virginia State Police

The annual awards, presented at a ceremony this morning at Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Tysons Galleria, were bestowed by WRAP in memory of Metropolitan Police Department Motor Patrol Officer Anthony W. Simms. Officer Simms, as a result of injuries sustained while on duty, lost his life to an impaired driver during Memorial Day weekend in 1996. WRAP’s 2023 Law Enforcement Awards were presented by Officer Simms’ widow, Lieutenant Pamela Simms, also formerly with the Metropolitan Police Department, along with NBC Washington’s Traffic Reporter Melissa Mollet. Today’s event speakers included Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and United States Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. (The United States Capitol Police co-hosted this morning’s event with WRAP.)

This morning’s event also featured Montgomery County Police Sergeant Patrick Kepp (this year’s Montgomery County honoree, now a three-time recipient of WRAP’s Law Enforcement Awards of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention) appearing via a live videocast. While on patrol, Sergeant Kepp was struck by an erratic and dangerous driver on I-270 on October 18th resulting in him losing both of his legs via emergency surgery at Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. The sergeant, from his new recuperating stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, updated today’s attenders on his recuperation and reminded all officers to be safe.

“This year’s awardees represent the front lines in Greater Washington’s continuing fight against drunk driving,” said Kurt Erickson, WRAP’s President. “Their collective effort to annually arrest and remove over 9,000 drunk drivers from Washington-metropolitan area roadways has undoubtedly saved lives.”

In addition to receiving the Law Enforcement Awards, each of the 2023 honorees also received a pair of complementary Washington National tickets (courtesy of the Washington Nationals) and a $25 gift card to Glory Days Grill (courtesy of Glory Days Grill).

Sponsors of WRAP’s 2023 Law Enforcement Awards & Holiday Campaign Kick-Off included The Beer Institute, Breakthru Beverage Washington, D.C., Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, GEICO, The George Washington University Hospital, Glory Days Grill, Interstate Moving | Relocation | Logistics and Lyft.

Founded in 1982, the nonprofit [501(c)(3)] Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is an award-winning public-private partnership working to prevent drunk driving and underage drinking in the Washington-metropolitan area. Through public education, innovative health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with helping to keep the annual percentage of metro-Washington traffic deaths involving alcohol-impaired driving historically lower than the national average. WRAP, however, may best be known to area residents via the organization’s popular free safe ride service to prevent drunk driving, SoberRide®.

For more information, visit WRAP’s website www.wrap.org.

(WRAP’s holiday free safe ride service for would-be drunk drivers, SoberRide®, will operate nightly from 10:00 pm until 4:00 am between December 15, 2023, and January 1, 2024. During these evening hours, Washington-metropolitan area residents ages 21 and older celebrating with alcohol may download the Lyft app to their phones and enter the applicable code in the app’s ‘Promo’ section. During this campaign, there will be three different single use promo codes issued. Each code is valid for up to $15 off one ride taken home in Lyft’s Washington, D.C. coverage area. WRAP’s Holiday SoberRide® promo codes will be posted at 9:00 p.m. on December 15, December 22 and December 31, 2023 on www.SoberRide.com  Limited quantities available. See www.SoberRide.com for more details.)