Sheriff Tom Spangler praised three Knox County Sheriff's Office personnel Wednesday for their work in 2018.
The announcement the men had been named Officer of the Year or Detective of the Year coincided with National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
The men cited were Officer Jeff Monroe, Detective Keith McFarland of the Major Crimes Unit and K-9 Officer Conner Amburn, who works with K-9 Thor, a Belgian Malinois.
Monroe, a patrolman and department employee since 2003, investigated a scam in which a 75-year-old woman was victimized by someone claiming she'd won money in a lottery. The woman had $19,000 taken from her.
Monroe's work led to charges being filed against a woman. He said he couldn't say much about the case because there's ongoing work.
McFarland was dispatched on a SunTrust bank robbery call on Andrew Johnson Highway in March 2018.
The detective ended up making the stop on a suspect. Mark Stallings was arrested in connection with the robbery.
Spangler also cited the work of Amburn and Thor. They twice were nominated for Office of the Quarter in 2018, he said.
Amburn's work last year included helping track with Thor a homicide suspect on the run in April 2018 in West Knoxville, according to the Sheriff's Office.
