2018 POAM Police Officer of the Year Award

Deputy Frank Rosado, Calhoun County  

A maniacal rampage with the potential for mass casualties was ignited on a steamy night last summer in rural Calhoun County. The incident was triggered by a heavily-armed man with documented mental-health issues, a crack cocaine addiction and not much to lose. Only the heroic, selfless actions of Calhoun County Deputy Frank Rosado and help from a Michigan State trooper snuffed out a near tragedy.

Just a few minutes before midnight on July 1, 2017, Deputy Rosado was dispatched to a single-family home to investigate a report of a breaking-and-entering. The situation was glazed with danger early when the female homeowner revealed to the 9-1-1 dispatcher that her ex-boyfriend had gained entry into her home by shattering a sliding glass door with a rock. The suspect had been kicked out of the home by his girlfriend just a few days earlier and he was not handling the rejection well.

Once inside the home, the suspect bolted into the ex­ girlfriend’s bedroom, and took a 9-millimeter high-point handgun and a .22-caliber rifle that was stored in the attic. When the enraged suspect attempted to leave the home with the weapons, the victim tried to take the rifle from him, fearing he may come back to harm her or others. He pushed her against the railing of a stairwell, and she came within inches of falling over the rail and down the stairs.

During the struggle, the suspect fired the rifle, with the round missing the victim and putting an ominous hole in the ceiling. As the victim physically blocked the front door exit, the now heavily armed, hot-tempered suspect raced down the stairs, out the garage door and into a Ford minivan. The van was stolen from his own mother.

The suspect then took off toward Battle Creek – and was soon discovered and pursued by Deputy Rosado and a trooper. Minutes into the pursuit, the minivan crashed and the suspect exited the vehicle with his guns in hand and in a visibly agitated state.

The site instantly took on the atmosphere of a war zone when he began shooting dozens of rounds at Deputy Rosado and the trooper. The shooting only stopped when he was shot and disarmed at the scene. The suspect later revealed that he had wished to die “suicide by cop” and had ingested crack cocaine the night of the incident. A post-incident search of the residence revealed an empty beer bottle that the suspect had placed just outside the shattered glass door – an obvious sign that he had also been drinking.

Deputy Rosado displayed incredible courage and heroism when he helped extinguish a high-tension incident by willingly engaging in a dangerous gun battle with the deranged subject. The outcome could have been tragic for the officer, but he never wavered from his determination to return fire and end the danger.

The Police Officers Association of Michigan is proud to present him with its 2018 POAM Police Officer of the Year Award.

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