Mike Cordell’s position as branch president of Denton’s Inwood National Bank doesn’t usually call upon him to take pictures.

Mike Cordell

But his prowess with a camera, his quick thinking and his bravery on April 3 led directly to the capture of a suspected bank robber.

When a man came into the bank that afternoon claiming to have a bomb, Cor­dell followed him out and watched him climb into a pickup. Then Cordell took a photograph of the truck’s license plate.

The next day, Denton police arrested a Greenville man on bank robbery charges.

Police Chief Roy Minter praised Cor­dell’s courage Wednesday as he presented him with the department’s citizen commendation award.

“Because of his actions, we had the culprit in custody the very next day,” Minter said.

Then Minter asked Cordell’s wife, Charlotte, to stand with him in front of the gathering of police officers at a monthly intelligence meeting.

In December, Charlotte Cordell received a similar award. She saw a man breaking into cars at the Cinemark theater. She watched him get into a vehicle, and called 911 and recited the license plate number. That, too, led directly to arrests.

“This is the first time we’ve had a husband and wife honored,” Minter said.

Minter also honored Carla Young, branch manager of Inwood National Bank. Faced with a man claiming to have a bomb, she kept her composure and talked him into going into her office, the police chief said. Then she was able to notify other employees that a robbery was taking place and to set in motion an evacuation of the building.

The chief presented commendations to several officers as well:

• Officer Keith Olsen received a lifesaving bar for performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a man who had been causing a disturbance at a downtown res­taurant. When employees tried to escort the man out, he stopped breathing. Olsen resuscitated the man, and he survived.

• Officer Rusty Foster received a commendation for his work April 30 in field investigating a robbery and making an arrest. Because Foster is familiar with his beat and its residents, he was able to determine where the suspect might be and to find her.

• Officer David Acrey received a commendation for his investigation of a burglary that resulted in arrests and the recovery of the stolen property.

• Officers Cody Clark, Jeff Laughlin and April McDonough received commendations for their work on April 28, when they found a man wanted for murder in Okla­homa.

• Officer Baldimar “Junior” Torres received a commendation for making six arrests between May 30 and June 2. In each case, Torres stopped drivers for minor criminal activity and found narcotics, including 91 ounces of PCP.

• Narcotics Officer Frank Padgett received two commendations for drug investigations, one of which resulted in the seizure of a large amount of drugs and firearms and another that recently netted the defendant a 20-year prison term.

• Detective Craig Fitzgearld received a commendation for his work that resulted in the arrests of five burglary suspects and the recovery of stolen property.

• Detective Steve Buchanan was commended for an investigation into criminal activities that resulted in drug tests that showed positive for cocaine in four children and their removal from their parents to a safe environment.

• Officer Brandon Rana was commended for writing a computer program that enables officers to upload photographs ac­companied by notes into the police computer system.

• Officer Keith Martin was commended for his work as a field training officer.

• Officer Cleo Birckbichler was commended for her work with community projects, such as Midnight Hoops and community bowling and cleanup projects, often at the sacrifice of her own time, Minter said.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com .