BEACON FALLS, Conn. — Just in time for the holidays, a dedicated Beacon Falls police officer and her K-9 were in for a surprise Friday afternoon and it was a surprise that has been a long time coming.
"The story kind of begins and ends with giving," said Hometown Foundation Events and Marketing Manager Meghan Sullivan.
After 25 years of putting herself on the front lines, Officer Celeste Robitaille retired from the Stratford Police Department and now works for the Beacon Falls Police Department.
She realized a search and rescue K-9 team would be beneficial to the department, so she offered K-9 Echo's services to the town at no cost.
"She finds both deceased or living people and her goal is to reunite people with their loved ones," said Ofc. Celeste Robitaille.
The search then began to find a police cruiser for Robitaille.
She reached out to Hometown Foundation for help and eventually, a deal was struck with the police department in Ashland, Mass. to purchase one of their unused cruisers.
It, however, had one issue. The cruiser was not equipped with the proper ventilation to house a K-9 in the back seat.
With the help of several businesses and organizations, the cruiser was revamped.
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"It’s unbelievable. The generosity of all the vendors, Hometown Foundation, the town. I mean, even the town’s people all know her already! They always ask me is Echo in the car?" added Ofc. Robitaille.
Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerard Smith said the cruiser only cost the town $500.
"Celeste is one of my part-time officers and she would just give her skills with the dog and we didn’t have a car that was equipped for the K-9, so now it’s fully equipped," said Smith.
This new cruiser would not have been made possible without the contribution of Bozzuto's Inc. in Cheshire, Sign Pro Inc. of Plantsville, Telrepco of Wallingford, Patriot Fleet Group LLC of Rocky Hill, and Norcom CT.
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Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and X.
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