Listen to F.O.P. Lodge 128 President Jason Neidig discuss Cpl. Charles B. Licato on Maynard in the Afternoon on Q1370 AM:
[audio:http://www.daggerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Jason-Neidig.mp3|titles=Jason Neidig]Listen to Dagger reporter Aaron Cahall discuss this story on Maynard in the Afternoon on Q1370 AM
[audio:http://www.daggerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Aaron-Cahall.mp3|titles=Aaron Cahall]A Harford County Sheriff’s Office deputy was killed in the line of duty in a single-vehicle crash in Darlington early Thursday morning, police said.
The crash was reported by a citizen just before 2:30 a.m. on the 4700 block of Conowingo Road in Darlington, according to Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Monica Worrell.
The deputy, Cpl. Charles B. Licato, 34, of Cecil County, was traveling northbound on Route 1 in an unmarked agency vehicle when the crash occured, Worrell said, and was pronounced dead at the scene by members of the Darlington Volunteer Fire Company.
“Corporal Licato died in the line of duty,” Bane said in a statement. “Those who follow us in the years and decades ahead will know his name and the sacrifice he made for the citizens of Harford County. Corporal Licato will always be with us.”
Worrell said Licato left the agency’s headquarters at approximately 1:55 a.m. and appeared to be heading home at the time of the crash.
Investigation and reconstruction of the crash by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit determined that the 2010 Chevy Impala assigned by the agency to Licato was traveling northbound on Route 1 when it crossed the center line into the southbound lanes of travel. Licato’s vehicle then traveled off the southbound side of the road, striking a steel pole on the front driver’s side before coming to rest after striking two large trees.
Licato was a 14-year veteran of the agency, Worrell said. He was assigned to the Apprehension Unit of the Services and Support Bureau, the agency’s six-member plainclothes unit which serves warrants and tracks wanted individuals. His death will be considered as coming in the line of duty, she said.
Licato has a brother who is also a Harford County Sheriff’s deputy, Worrell said. His father, Donald Licato, recently retired as a detective with the Aberdeen Police Department, sources said, and is also a retired Baltimore City homicide detective.
“The Harford County Municipal F.O.P. Lodge #128 is saddened by the loss of Harford County Sheriff’s Office Deputy, Corporal Charles Licato,” Lodge President Jason Neidig said in a statement. “This untimely death hits home as Corporal Licato’s father had just retired from the Aberdeen Police Department (and is a retiree from the Baltimore City Police Department). Our prayers are extended to the Licato family. R.I.P. Brother Charles Licato. Your Brothers & Sisters have it from here.”
County Executive David Craig remarked on Licato’s death in a statement Thursday afternoon:
“I am deeply saddened by the sudden and untimely loss of Cpl. Charles Licato of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. Cpl. Licato served the citizens of Harford County and the State of Maryland with pride, integrity and distinction for 13 years as a proud member of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
My wife Melinda and I extend our condolences to Cpl. Licato’s family, friends and co-workers. Harford County lost one of our finest today and we share in mourning the loss of Cpl. Licato with our law enforcement, first responders and public safety community. Cpl. Licato will be sorely missed.”
Craig said county flags would be flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of Licato’s funeral.
Conowingo Road remained closed between Castleton and Shuresville roads as of 6 a.m. Thursday.
Funeral arrangements had not been made as of Thursday afternoon, but will be posted on the Sheriff’s Office web site at www.harfordsheriff.org.
Check back with The Dagger for updates on this breaking story.
Cpl. Charles Licato. (Photo courtesy HCSO)
Licato, center, with Sheriff Jesse Bane, left, and Licato’s father, Donald Licato, a retired Aberdeen Police Department and retired Baltimore City Police Department detective. (Photo courtesy HCSO)
RIP my brother. You served proudly and and with honor, our prayers are with you and your family.
R.I.P. Brother “Sam 553.” Your brothers & sisters have it from here.
Rest in Peace brother. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.
My sincere condolences to the family and fellow officers.
Jason, your post just brought tears to my eyes. RIP to a true hero who gave his life in the service of keeping this county safe.
As a neighbor and friend, we will miss seeing you in the yard and playing with Gunner. Chuck you were a good man, may you rest in peace.
So very sorry to hear about the death of Cpl Licato this morning. My heart breaks for his family, who are in my prayers. God bless them.
Such a young life lost too soon. You will be missed by your fellow “Brothers in Blue”..Rest in Peace
Single Car Accident? Another Officer driving too fast on Maryland roads. Note to Officers, you do not possess skills beyond that of normal, law abiding drivers….SLOW DOWN!! (i.e. Troopers on I-95) Be an example to the community and you will not have to bury your own. Very sad.
Ya know, Im so glad you observed him driving fast so you can come on here and share. Single car accidents do not mean he was driving too fast. The single car accident involving a citizen on 22 yesterday was from cardiac arrest. Please feel free to keep an open mind as to other factors that could have caused this. If you actually knew anything about this officer you would know what risks he put himself in everyday and instead of jumping to conclusions that even people on the scene that nighy have not figured out, you would be thankful he got violent criminals off the street.
How exactly do you know the circumstances of the accident? How do you know he did not swerve to avoid a deer in the road? How do you know he did not have a medical emergency? You don’t. You ‘do not possess skills beyond’ that of a normal human.
To Harford County Citizen
I would like to introduce my self I am Deputy Charles Licato’s Father, First off since Sept 6 2012 when charlie died i have not read a bad comment about our fine officers until your comment. just to give you some facts not that you deserve it but charles passed a on comming deputy and was caught in his radar doing 52 mph in a 50 mph zone. speed was not a factor.
If you would like to discuss your issues you know where to find me. Mc.Comas funeral home. Just to let you know Charles comes from a long line of law enforcement family I retired this year after 40 combind years 24 yrs Baltimore city Homicide and 16 yrs Aberdeen criminal investigation unit His brother is also a harford county deputy sheriff.
we believe charlie fell asleep from working long hour protecting your rights so you can make comments about things you know nothing about
Don,
First and foremost , may God be with you, your wife, surviving son and entire family. It is a horrific shame that you and the law enforcement along with the decent people in this world must see these comments and arguing during such a traumatic and sorrowful time. I pray these happenings don’t compound an already tragedy. Moreover to you, may God give you the strength to make it through these days, with the loss of your son, another co-worker from Aberdeen and then followed by this disturbance. Please remember all of us will stand tall with you, and all that knew Charlie, like I did for many years as to what a dedicated Deputy and fine son he was.Thank you for all your dedicated years of service as well. Again God Bless you and your Family….
I agree with the last 2 posts. Mr. Citizen, were you there? How do you know it wasn’t a medical emergency or a deer? Did you know most vehicles increase their speed when skidding and sliding? And he was on duty, until he crossed the dam, Cpl Licato was still on duty. You see the police in the cars while it appears the’re off duty? Well if they see something and react the same as any other officer would, at that moment he was on duty. So, if your point is he wasn’t on duty and say you were being attaked, should he just keep on driving by???? Of course Cpl Licato would stop and take action. You, along with all the other citizens in this county should be proud of almost, and I said almost all of them, but this Cpl was a true dedicated Deputy. May he rest in peace with God by his side and watch over the rest of them in their daily efforts to make our lives safe here. Godspeed Charlie…….
I apologize for the grammatical errors in my post, but understandbly these are upsetting hours in many lives. The post should read:
I agree with the last 2 posts. Mr. Citizen, were you there? How do you know it wasn’t a medical emergency or a deer? How do you know whether or not he was trying to catch up to a violator ahead of him? So many unanswered questions at this time. How dare you sit there and pass judgement now? Did you know most vehicles increase their speed when skidding and sliding? I’m pretty sure you don’t….And yes the officers are trained at higher speed driving other than the “you do not possess skills beyond that of normal, law abiding drivers….SLOW DOWN!! (i.e. Troopers on I-95) Be an example.” It is part of their training and is called EVOC. He was on duty, until he crossed the dam, Cpl Licato was still on duty. You see the police officers in their cars while it appears the’re off duty? Well, in fact if they see something requiring law enforcement intervention and react the same as any other on duty officer would, at that moment the officer is on duty. So, if your point is he wasn’t on duty and say you were being attaked, and he observed it, should he just keep on driving by???? Of course Cpl Licato would stop and take action. You, along with all the other citizens in this county should be proud of almost, and I said almost all of the Deputies, Troopers and Municpal Officers, but this Cpl was a true dedicated Deputy. May he rest in peace with God by his side and watch over the rest of them in their daily efforts to make our lives safe here. Godspeed Charlie……. The entire community mourns with you Licato family, Mom, proud Father, fellow Deputy Brother and the entire family, you are in our thoughts and prayers.
Sorry…I am re-reading my post to see if there are any un-truths…Officers driving over the speed limit at all hours of the day and night…These vehicles are over 2,000lbs. No hours of training will teach you to manuever your vehicle if a deer crosses the road…and oh…call any insurance company…they will tell you that if you swerve off the road to avoid hitting a deer…it is YOUR FAULT…you MUST maintain control of your SPEEDING vehicle at all times…I hit a deer on the Route 1 Bypass head-on and never left the road…caused $3,500 of damage and that was the first question from my insurance company..did you leave the road at any time. I pray it was not a medical emergency. I pray that Harford County will install sensors on these vehicles that will alert dispatch to an accident…he may have survived if that were the case…My point? Slow down…I don’t need to explain to my 6 and 10 year olds in my car when they ask…”Dad…why is that officer speeding..?”…
@ “HARFORD COUNTY CITIZEN”: My gosh, man, what is wrong with you?? You are making assumptions regarding details about which you do NOT know. Please leave your erroneous thoughts, comments & finger-pointing to yourself. We don’t care to hear it…especially when you were not involved & DON’T KNOW! Words hurt–especially yours. Shame on you for making such inappropriate & inaccurate observations. It is upsetting & sickening!
What I Wanted to Say: To all of the families involved in this week’s fatal traffic tragedies, please know that my thoughts & prayers are with you & your families. I am truly sorry and my heart goes out to you all.
So when u hit the deer, were you speeding? Did it make the Dagger or news? Did people come on and slam you before they knew all the details. Did they insult your profession if you have one, or disrespect you by saying you were speeding or acting out of line? By the way, when this happened, did the Trooper or Deputy treat you with respect and help you and your children? I’m pretty sure they did……
Points to ponder, huh?
Wow, this thread really jumped the shark! Let’s get it back on track, Rest in peace brother, we got it from here. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family, both in and out of uniform!
You don’t often hear this from me, but I will keep politics out of this(that is for other threads). @ Harford County Citizen- I am sickened by your comments. Let Cpl Licato’s family grieve, let them be. This man, my friend, my brother protected you and your family. He should be remembered for what he did, not what you think he did. I know he was a good cop, I’m sorry many of you didnt get a chance to meet him. Each and every day/night the men/women of The Harford County Sheriff’s Office put their uniform on and tell loved ones “I love you” “see you in 8.5 hrs”. We all know that this need’s to be said because in this line of work you never know when it will be your last goodbye and I love you. The true heroes are those who pay the ultimate sacrifice and they will never be forgotten. Deputy Frank Bateman, DFC William Beebe # 732, and Cpl Charles Licato # 553. RIP Brothers
Lobster and People:
You are totally correct. The polotics should remain out of this thread. Maybe it was incorrect of me to interject with the comment about “almost all”, and I more than retract those statements (regarding this post), but moreover it’s quite disheartening to sit back and read the ignorance of others on a post such as this. You must agree with that, as I do whole heartedly with the words regarding saying goodbye to your loved ones as you may never see them again. Thats exactly what the Licato Family as well as the family of the Balto. City Officer buried today are feeling. The public needs to appreciate the law enforcement community with alittle higher esteem.
Godspeed Cpl Licato# 553 , his family, friends and loved ones. RIP
HARFORD COUNTY CITIZEN is also CONCERNED HARFORD COUNTY CITIZEN…… All I can say is if you were blessed with a 10 and a 6 year old…you better be twice as careful… tell them what a hateful sicko their daddy is ! RIP officers.
Harford Citizen,
I can’t sit by and read your terribly ignorant baseless comments. @ things to say as yes I do not to dishonor the true meaning and cause for these posts. First I Pray as you say you do, that I never find out your true name , then find in a similar setting an obituary of a family member of friend. I would love to see your reaction and response if someone should compose untruths or irresponsible comments regarding the passing of that person. Secondly , should you desire to continue this conversation, start another thread, email me, I’ll be glad to explain the real truth to being a law enforcement officer, or stop by a Police Precinct with your children and just ask the duty Sergeant, I’m sure he/she would fully explain things. How do I explain to my children that such an arrogant man writes such disrespectful comments on a public forum? Now we lost another officer, I pray you’re not such an ameba that you will disrespect his passing as well. You really need professional help.
To all other supporters of the Law Enforcement I once again apologize for this message in response to his post, but could not let in go in my soul. I apologize to the Licato and now other officer’s family as I will stand by you now and always to the day of my death. Rest In Peace Brothers……Godspeed to you.
Hmmm,
While I don’t necessarily agree with the ‘citizen’ I support his 1st amendment right on this board or any other. I find myself somewhat aggravated at other responses by the ‘brothers in blue’ and I’ll explain why. You see, for those of you who have never worked/spent any significant time w/the brothers in blue… They mock you, they mock your lapse in judgement, your domestic issues, your children…. It’s all fun & games with a MPTC & a gun until something happens to one of them. Now, I realize what I just wrote sounds bitter and angry and I did write it in a general sense. That is to say that I know there are good cops out there who carry themselves professionally and with pride! But, citizen does have a point. His point should not be dismissed jus because the victim was a cop. Remember the lieutenant who was busted go DUI/dwi after leaving the IPC years back? How many of you guys ‘badge’ each other for speeding or a place in line? Stop with all of the hypocrisy and I’ll stop supporting citizen okay?
Hurrumph
The point being…you or any other “concerned citizens” vendetta against the police do not belong on a memorial page, speaking of the funeral and viewings. Start your own page if you would like to bash the police and have at it. As the old saying goes…”there is a time and a place and this is neither the time or the place.”
This thread is way out of control, as well as for the other law enforcement officer’s tragic death. These threads should be used to relay condolences, respect and words to the family’s and loved ones involved. All this ranting about free speech and so forth should be addressed elsewhere. I certainly believe in the First Amendment.
Aaron Cahall was exactly on point in his post, as the Dagger reports on incidents and persons with less of a public profile. Yes there are disgraced ex law enforcement out there, but humiliating them and their families at time of death is incomprehensible.
One final thought: if these two persons were violating the peoples trust as in a crime of varsity while these tragedies happened, this still would not be the place to discuss them. If they were a poor mechanic, lousy electrician,, terrible hairstylist, or any other respectable less profile position, I’m sure we wouldn’t observe such the nasty nature of fellow human beings.
My God people , show some respect and decency to the families of these fallen officers. May God be with them and hold then in Heaven.
This thread is way out of control, as well as for the other law enforcement officer’s tragic death. These threads should be used to relay condolences, respect and words to the family’s and loved ones involved. All this ranting about free speech and so forth should be addressed elsewhere. I certainly believe in the First Amendment.
Aaron Cahall was exactly on point in his post, as the Dagger reports on incidents and persons with less of a public profile. Yes there are disgraced ex law enforcement out there, but even humiliating them and their families at time of death is incomprehensible.These were 2 outstanding officers to say the least.
One final thought: if these two persons were violating the peoples trust as in a crime of varsity while these tragedies happened, this still would not be the place to discuss them. If they were a poor mechanic, lousy electrician,, terrible hairstylist, or any other respectable less profile position, I’m sure we wouldn’t observe such the nasty nature of fellow human beings.
My God people , show some respect and decency to the families of these fallen officers. May God be with them and hold then in Heaven.
To all:
This was posted on the report of OFC Armeta’s tragic death:
Well, after going to my Church on Sunday in Forest Hill, I realize that I am in no position to judge…. I am happy that in my earlier years no one stood in judgement of my actions….and that I am thankful my actions did not result in my sudden and horrible death…I did many terrible things I am ashamed of and have had to ask many people along the road of my life to forgive me…
Please forgive me for my quick judgements I made of these two Officers. My prayers are for these two families and their children they left behind. The same Grace that was given to me in my lifes struggles is the same Grace given to all….
Report
Posted by Concerned Harford County Citizen | September 10, 2012, 3:42 pm 3 0
Harford Citizen,
An admirable and hopefully sincere apology and post. I have no reason to disbelieve your sincerity. Please lets all just focus on the condolences to the passing, and no matter the circumstances nor their profession lets honor the deceased with dignity, . A hero is a hero to someone from police to fire personnel, (especially our volunteer firefighters) to military, to the plumber who is a little league coach. I wish God’s peace to you, your family and children.
Again to the Licato Family, Godspeed and may you and all of us that will rejoice and celebrate Charlie’s life have God’s Grace over us.
to harford County Citizen before you post know your facts. And yes these are facts from his accident:
1. yes he was on duty
2. he was not speeding or driving reckless
3. he was not talking or texting because his cell phone was left at his residence.
understand this, he was still working and still completing tasks from his work day. as a police officer you are held to a higher standard. you are never really off especially when you are in an agency vehicle. there has been many times when a deputy was off duty in his agency vehicle and in minutes could be at a scene of a traffic accident, a medical call or any other call for service. Harford county citizen are you held to that standard. when have you ever saved a life or risked your life for a complete stranger or coworker. are you always on duty at your work, can i show up right now at your home and would you make me a #1 with fries without skipping a beat. Its amazing how you bash and talk bad about the people who are out there risking there lives so your family can sleep good at night. And god forbid something tragic happens to your family, guess who will be first on scene doing everything in there power to help keep your family alive.hopefully your kids dont grow up to be a complete j@ck@ss like you, if so im pretty sure my kids will eventually knock their teeth out. all i know is hopefully one day we will run into each other 🙂
To Charlie’s Dad:
Don,
On behalf of myself and the residence of Little Italy, who you as a Baltimore City Police Officer, protected for many years, extend our heartfelt condolences to you and your family. I am so very sorry for your loss and the pain you must be going through….I did not know Charlie, but if he was anything like his Dad he was an excellent law enforcement officer.
Charlie…..rest in peace.
man, you people shur think alot of yourselves?…in a world full of good guys and bad guys…you’all are not!!! the good guys!…lol