Officer of the Year for 2009: Christopher Duthaler

During the first three months of this year Palm Springs experienced a series of burglaries, attempted sexual assault and sexual assaults.  All of these crimes were linked together and occurred during the night time hours.   The behavior of the suspect seemed to be escalating in violence with each crime.  Although evidence was collected at the scenes of the crimes, the latent prints and DNA evidence did not reveal the identity of the suspect.  A task force comprised of several officers deployed for two weeks conducting surveillance in an attempt to locate and identify the suspect.  The task force was unable to identify the suspect during their two week operation.

Officer Duthaler and his canine partner, Jax, worked diligently on patrol as part of the task force, to locate the suspect.  Their hard work paid off when patrolling the apartment complex at the 500 block of West San Rafael, at which the suspect had been seen in the past but was able to evade the responding officers.  After patrolling the apartment grounds and perimeter, Officer Duthaler drove away.  He decided to drive around the block and return to the complex based on a gut feeling.  He then observed an adult male stumbling to the sidewalk outside of the complex and contacted him.

The male strongly resembled the description of the suspect from the crimes.  After questioning the subject he was arrested for public intoxication.  After he was transported to jail, Officer Duthaler conducted interviews of the subject’s girlfriend and acquaintance at a nearby apartment. They provided information about the subject’s behavior and activities in the early morning hours.  The subject was later interviewed by one of the detectives and provided a DNA sample.  The results of the DNA and the fingerprints taken showed a match to that of the suspect in the crime series.  He was arrested, admitted his involvement in those crimes and is currently in custody facing a life sentence. 

Officer Duthaler's persistence, intuition and observation skills led to the arrest of a suspect who had evaded police for three months.  Officer Duthaler was awarded a Commendation for his outstanding performance.  His attention to detail and unwavering dedication is in the highest tradition of the Palm Springs Police Department.  Officer Duthaler is also responsible for the recovery of several hundred thousand dollars in stolen cars through the past two years.