The Inter-Mountain photos by Taylor McKinnie Senior Patrolman Dylan Coffman, center, and Patrolman Seth Davis, center right, with the Elkins City Police, and Senior Trooper Anthony Petrella, right, with the West Virginia State Police, stand before an applauding audience Thursday night after receiving awards from Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett, left, for ‘exceptional actions’ during a water rescue on June 18.

ELKINS — Two Elkins City Police patrolmen and a West Virginia State Police Senior Trooper received awards, including the Life Saving Medal, during Thursday’s Elkins City Council meeting for their efforts in rescuing an elderly man in June.

Senior Patrolman Dylan Coffman and Patrolman Seth Davis, with the Elkins City Police, and Senior Trooper Anthony Petrella with the State Police were recognized for their “exceptional actions in the successful response to a June 2025 Silver Alert.”

“I always say this is the best part of my job, is being able to promote officers or give them awards,” Elkins City Police Chief Travis Bennett said before the awards ceremony. “So, it’ll be a good night here tonight. We’re going to recognize three officers who went above and beyond in the course of their duties.”

In a ceremony attended by officers from both the Elkins City Police and the West Virginia State Police, as well as friends, family members and Elkins city officials, Bennett awarded Petrella a Letter of Appreciation, gave Davis a Letter of Commendation and presented Coffman with the Life Saving Medal.

“By order of the Chief of Police, Senior Patrolman Dylan Coffman is hereby awarded the Life Saving Medal for his actions on June 18, 2025, that resulted in a life being saved in the line of duty,” Bennett said.

On June 18, according to the official statement released by the Elkins City Police, Cpl. Summerfield with the Elkins Police Department received a missing person report for Harold Wayne Simmons, 80, from a health care worker, who reported that Simmons was “missing from his home on Gorman Avenue.” The West Virginia State Police issued a Silver Alert for Simmons that day.

Later that evening, Coffman and Davis responded to “a heavily wooded area near Fern Hill Lane” to assist Petrella with a trespassing call. When the three officers split up to search the area, Coffman “heard a male subject call out,” according to the statement.

“Coffman proceeded to the area that he heard the voice and discovered Mr. Simmons partially submerged in a large creek, injured, with water up to his neck,” Bennett read from the official report during the ceremony. “Mr. Simmons was located at the bottom of an extremely steep embankment that was approximately 20 feet tall and extremely slick from recent rainfall.”

Coffman, according to the statement, “immediately traversed the embankment with the use of a tree” and, upon entering the water, pulled Simmons to safety. Davis and Petrella then arrived to assist in providing care for Simmons.

Davis also assisted in directing Randolph County EMS and the Elkins Fire Department to the scene. Simmons was taken to Davis Medical Center and then on to Ruby Memorial Hospital for treatment.

“It’s an honor to be able to recognize police officers when they do something like this,” Bennett told The Inter-Mountain after the ceremony. “Those guys were heroes that day, like they are every day. It’s really nice when we get to show that off to their families, show it off to our (City) Council and the community, what these guys do all the time.”