On March 8, 2014, Miami-Dade Police Detective Jonathan Sabel was awarded the prestigious Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Award for Investigative Excellence.He and his partner, Juan Segovia are assigned to the Homicide Bureau of Miami Dade Police Department.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. At the event which was a gala affair held at Jungle Island in Miami, Sabel’s father was present to witness and celebrate as his son was named winner along with Segovia.Ronald Sabel was ecstatic and so proud of his son, especially since Ronald Sabel was a career policeman himself, having served 25 years as a uniformed officer for the City of Miami Police Department. This made it extra special for him.
Tragically, shortly after the LEO event,the senior Mr. Sabel passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. The family was devastated.At the memorial services, Jonathan talked about how proud his dad was and how he was so glad to have been present for the award given to his son.
In a final gesture of total and complete love and respect, that of a son for his father, Jonathan Sabel placed the LEO statue award into the casket of his father, to be buried with him. Quite an unbelievable act of unselfish love and admiration Jonathan felt he owed that to his dad.
Now, just a few weeks later his colleagues and partners wanted to replace that prestigious award and recognition.So through the generosity of some very special people and the incredible respect by others for this terrific story of a son’s love for his father – the LEO Award, a duplicate has been created for presentation to Detective Sabel.
When they learned of the story, the Segal Family, Glenn and Daryl along with their children, stepped up to sponsor there placement award. The Segal family is part of the Sunny Isles Beach police family and have sponsored the annual Investigative Excellence Award for years for members of the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department. But this was even more special, in fact they asked if they could have the honor to do so when they learned of the story.
With a few changes made to the inscription on the plate for the statue, (donated by Orvietto’s Awards) the new award now reads:
LEO AWARDS 2014 INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES JONATHAN SABEL AND IN MEMORY OF HIS FATHER RONALD SABEL –MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT
God Bless the Sabel Family for their loss and thank you to everyone who had a hand in finishing the rest of the story!
