GREEN BAY (NBC26) — A family was honored at the 2024 Brown County Sheriff's Office award ceremony after assisting police in collecting evidence for a drug bust that took place on August 10th.
- Video shows a family's corn field damaged after a vehicle drove through it during a police chase
- After arrests were made, the family helped police collect evidence which included drugs, money, and guns.
- The family received a certificate of appreciation at the 2024 Brown County Sheriff's Office award ceremony.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Sam Sipiorski and his family joined local officers Tuesday evening at the 2024 Brown County Sheriff's Office Award Ceremony after the "excitement," Sam said his family experienced last year on August 10th.
What the family saw that day was a small area of land destroyed, after a vehicle with three suspects drove into their cornfield during a police chase.
The Brown County Drug Task Force tracked the criminals from Arizona into Brown County for drug dealing.
After a long pursuit, the suspects were arrested and investigators searched the area for additional evidence. That's when Sam and his family came in to help.
"You're searching now a 20-acre field," Sipiorski said. "That's a lot of field to cover compared to someone's backyard or someone's street."
Sam says he assisted police in looking for drugs and guns throughout the day. He says he even harvested crops prematurely to do so.
"When we started cutting into the crop, I was on my tractor cutting the crop and I heard a bang on my mower," Sipiorski said. "We stopped, went to the back and sure enough it was the evidence they were looking for."
In the end, police found 21.44 grams of cocaine, 265.81 grams of fentanyl, and two guns.
"It was their ways of helping officers and giving back to the community," Jody Lemmens, Captain of Professional Standards with the Brown County Sheriff's Office said.
Lemmens organized the ceremony and said the family was at the right place at the wrong time.
Although losing some crops, Sipiorski said helping police was most important.
With the Sipiorski family being honored, Captain Lemmens emphasized that the awards ceremony was for both civilians and officers.
Sam's family is one of six sets of civilians awarded, along with 21 officers.
