Sewickley officers heralded for arresting homicide suspect Samuel Lee Tolfa
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Two Sewickley police officers were honored for their efforts in apprehending a suspect in an Avalon murder.
Samuel Lee Tolfa, 32, was taken into custody in Hopewell on Jan. 22.
He is accused of fatally shooting Jorden Lee Puskar, 21, of Coraopolis early that morning in the 100 block of Prospect Street.
Tolfa is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, carrying a firearm without a license and fleeing police.
Sewickley council president Cynthia Mullins delivered commendations to patrolmen Derek Miller and Dave Yurkovac at the Feb. 8 meeting.
“As I read through the details of this stressful incident, my heart was pounding because I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be,” she said. “Thankfully, our officers carried out their duty with the utmost professionalism (and) returned to us unharmed.”
According to a police report, an Ohio Township officer was able to identify the suspect’s vehicle via traffic cameras. Its description was a blue square-style vehicle with no plate.
The vehicle was possibly a Kia going back to Hopewell Township in Beaver County, the report stated.
Quaker Valley area units were advised to be on the lookout for the vehicle, and Sewickley patrolman Derek Miller saw one matching the description coming down McKown Lane in Glen Osborne.
Patrolman David Yurkovac made his way onto Ohio River Boulevard and noticed a vehicle matching the description pass him heading north, the police report read.
Both officers followed the suspect across the Sewickley Bridge, onto University Boulevard and other streets into Crescent Township.
Yurkovac kept dispatch abreast of their locations. Officers from Crescent, Moon and Hopewell townships as well as Aliquippa and Ambridge became involved.
Yurkovac attempted to make a traffic stop near the border of Allegheny/Beaver counties when the suspect took off.
The chase ended with Tolfa’s capture along Circle Drive in Hopewell.
Online court documents indicate his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 18 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.
Sewickley police Chief Dave Mazza said his officers “really used their heads” when tracking and arresting the suspect.
“They knew he was to be considered armed and dangerous,” Mazza said. “He wasn’t fleeing. He was going the speed limit, so they followed him at a regular rate of speed calling ahead trying to organize other police departments from other jurisdictions to assist. They were in Hopewell by the time they had more units with them.
“I was extremely proud of them for the way they conducted themselves in accordance with how they’ve been trained. They did exactly what they were taught. They were thinking under a high-stress situation … They were just examples of how you’re supposed to control your emotions (and) conduct yourself in those situations.”
Mazza said he knows his officers will have this incident on their minds for a long time.
“Things like this cause stress to a police officer,” he said. “It has physiological effects that you don’t realize and you can’t really control. Being through a few things like that, I felt it was appropriate to inform council and I felt they deserved to be recognized somehow.”