COLUMBIA, SC, – On Friday night, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) held its third annual South Carolina law enforcement recognition dinner, Driven to Protect and Serve, presenting “MADDY” awards to officers and community partners across the state for excellence in their field. The event comes as South Carolina drunk driving fatalities are up 72% from 2019 to 2022, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The 474 lives lost was the second worst year on record for the state.
“MADD deeply values our longstanding relationship with the law enforcement community, which plays a vital role in preventing impaired driving and underage drinking,” said MADD’s Regional Executive Director, Steven Burritt. “Impaired driving is a crime that impacts people from all walks of life, and it is a privilege to honor the officers and agencies who go above and beyond to help end these senseless tragedies.”
MADD presented the Lifetime Achievement in Enforcement Award to Captain Pat Carter of the Mount Pleasant Police Department, and a Lifetime Achievement Champion Award to Patricia Voelker, whose outstanding volunteerism and public speaking since her she lost four men in her family to a drunk and drugged driver in 2010 were essential to MADD’s growth in the last decade.
Below are the winners of this year’s MADDY awards, including:
2023 DUI Enforcement Hero of the Year: Senior Patrol Officer Raymond Schoonmaker, Mount Pleasant Police Department
2023 DUI Enforcement Hero Agency of the Year: Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office
2023 Rick Moore Drug Recognition Expert of the Year: Deputy Christopher Anderson, York County Sheriff’s Office.
2023 Barry Barnette DUI Prosecutor of the Year: Matt Shelton, 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office
2023 Compassionate Hero Award: Deputy Coroner David Reynolds, Charleston County Coroner’s Office
2023 DUI Enforcers of the Year, who represent the top DUI arrest officers, Highway Patrol & Local Agencies:
- Senior Patrol Officer Raymond Schoonmaker, Mount Pleasant Police Department, 111 DUI arrests
- Deputy John “JD” Walter, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, 85 DUI arrests
- Officer Zachariah Azari, Charleston County Police Department, 83 DUI arrests
- Master Deputy Anthony Myers, Jr., Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, 64 DUI arrests
- Deputy Arens Marthone, York County Sheriff’s Office, 61 DUI arrests
- Lance Corporal David Rabon, SC Highway Patrol, 86 DUI arrests
- Corporal Mark Lewis, SC Highway Patrol, 72 DUI arrests
- Master Trooper Kevin Renneker, SC Highway Patrol, 64 DUI arrests
- Senior Trooper Steven Salerno, SC Highway Patrol, 64 DUI arrests
- Senior Trooper Trent Colley, SC Highway Patrol, 62 DUI arrests
2023 Outstanding Dedication to BUI Enforcement: Sergeant Stephen Bryant, SC Department of Natural Resources
2023 Outstanding Alcohol Enforcement Team: 3rd Judicial Circuit
2023 Outstanding Dedication to Underage Drinking Prevention by a SLED Alcohol Unit Agent: Special Agent Daniel Todd
2023 Outstanding DUI Prevention Communications Initiative: Community Relations Officers of the South Carolina Highway Patrol
2023 Volunteer of the Year: Mary Parks
2023 Power of (You)th Award, which recognizes an outstanding youth group or individual young person addressing underage drinking: Jessica Kolp
During a tribute to officers injured or killed by impaired driving, officers’ names were read by impaired driving crash victims and survivors that MADD South Carolina has served.
Held in Columbia, the Law Offices of Kenneth Berger was the event’s Presenting Sponsor and Yarborough Applegate Law Firm was the Captain level Sponsor, enabling a celebration of the role of law enforcement in preventing crashes from impaired driving, which kill or injure someone every 79 seconds. Other event sponsors included The Cauthen Charitable Fund, Uber, and AAA Carolinas.
If you, or someone you love, has been the victim of impaired driving, support is available 24 hours a day via the MADD Victim Help Line 1-877-MADD-HELP (1-877-623-3435) or www.MADD.org.
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About Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) is the nonprofit leader in a movement to create a nation where there are #NoMoreVictims of impaired driving. By working in collaboration with law enforcement to end underage drinking and all drunk and drugged driving, MADD has helped reduce drunk driving deaths by more than 50%, saving more than 400,000 lives. The organization is a vocal advocate for tougher sentencing, new laws and new technology, including implementation of the HALT Act. MADD also has provided supportive services to nearly one million victims of drunk and drugged driving at no charge through local victim advocates and its 24-Hour Victim Help Line 1-877-MADD-HELP. For more information or to make a donation, visit us at https://madd.org/and follow MADD on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
