Detective Salvatore Levita Named Deputy of the Year by MCSO

On Halloween of this year, a child nearly died choking on a piece of candy when a strobe light exacerbated a post-concussion seizure that resulted from an injury at wrestling practice earlier that night. Detective Levita's quick thinking helped avert a tragedy and for his actions, he has been named MCSO's Deputy of the Year.

Citation from Sheriff Steube below:

On October 31, 2011, Halloween evening, you and your family met with another MSO employee and his family at a friend's home. After trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, the kids were in a bedroom playing where there was a fog machine and strobe light. You went into the bedroom to check on the children and found your co-worker's teenage boy on the floor, non-responsive, and appeared to be locked in a seizure.

You found a piece of candy in his mouth and removed it to prevent him from choking, then laid him down and calmed him until you could summons his father. The boy was transported to the hospital by EMS and it was determined that he had suffered a seizure from a concussion received at wrestling practice earlier in the day that was exacerbated by the strobe light.

Had you not found the child and rendered aid when you did, there could have been a tragic outcome. For your quick actions, you are awarded  2011 Deputy of the Year. Congratulations!  

W. BRAD STEUBE, SHERIFF  
MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA