September's
Sheriff's Department Employee of the
Month
Sgt. Steve Dombrowski
CHARLIE
DISTRICT DEPUTY
ALWAYS ON THE MOVE Exclusive
Video of award presentation
Lincoln
County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Dombrowski
checks paperwork in preparation for
serving a Domestic Violence Protection
Order. Photo by Jon
Mayhew/TCS
By Jon Mayhew
DENVER – For
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy
Steve Dombrowski, patrolling the East
Lincoln District – known as the
Charlie District – is sort of like
his first job as a Sheriff’s Deputy
in eastern North Carolina.
Before coming to Lincoln County,
Dombrowski was a deputy with the
Currituck County Sheriff’s
Department. He was near a large body of
water there in Nags Head as he is here
today in East Lincoln.
“I was a beach patrol officer in
Currituck,” said Dombrowski, the
September Court Street Grille/The
Carolina Scoop Lincoln County
Sheriff’s Department Employee of the
Month. “I had friends who were in
law enforcement where I grew up in Nags
Head, so I went to basic law enforcement
training in Elizabeth City in 1995.”
Dombrowski said his very first job was in
the detention center in Dare County. The
job only lasted about nine months because
Dombrowski didn’t like the idea of
“sitting still.”
Steve
Dombrowski prepares to go out on the
road. Photo by Jon
Mayhew/TCS
In other words, he wanted to be on the
road.
He applied at several police departments
and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s
Office.
“I was hired by both Lincolnton and
Cherryville Police,” said
Dombrowski. “I went to work for the
Cherryville Police before going to work
at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s
Office.”
STRONG FAMILY BOND
Steve’s parents had moved to the
Charlotte area when he was a teenager.
Dombrowski spent one year in Charlotte
before heading back to Nags Head at the
age of 19, by himself.
“I couldn’t stand the schools
in Charlotte,” said Dombrowski.
While he was a deputy in Currituck, he
would talk via radio to a woman named
Lisa Helms. She was a dispatcher.
“We knew a lot of the same people
but we never actually went out,”
said Dombrowski.
He didn’t hear her on the radio for
several months, then asked a colleague
about her one day.
“I was told she moved back to
Lincoln County,” said Dombrowski.
Chalk things up to fate for Steve and
Lisa. When he started looking for a job
in the Lincoln area – he wanted to
be closer to his family – he got in
touch with Lisa Helms.
“When I got in touch with her, she
remembered me,” said Dombrowski.
The pair went around, Steve filling out
applications looking for work in his
chosen field of law enforcement, and the
two struck up a relationship.
Recently, Steve and Lisa Dombrowski
celebrated their eighth wedding
anniversary. Steve has a 13-year-old
step-daughter and a six-year-old daughter
who will be seven in January.
“We’re going Christmas shopping
before Thanksgiving,” said
Dombrowski. “We’ll get it out
of the way before the crowds.”
DEPUTY ON THE MOVE
Video
shot by Elizabeth Mayhew/TCS
When Dombrowski first started, he was
trained by Travis Leatherman in the
Lincoln Sheriff’s Department Adam
District, which covers western Lincoln
County.
“I was hired as a road deputy,”
said Dombrowski. “I always like to
stay busy.”
Dombrowski was also trained in the Baker
District – the central part of the
county outside the city limits of
Lincolnton – by David Carpenter and
Lee Caskey.
But it wasn’t until he was moved to
the Charlie District – a.k.a.
Eastern Lincoln County – that he
felt like he was back in Currituck.
He was close to Lake Norman.
“This is the closest to the water
that I’ll get,” said
Dombrowski.
Dombrowski’s night starts by
patrolling the major thoroughfare in
Denver – Highway 16. While
establishing a presence in the district,
he checks on various buildings, sometimes
driving around the back of the buildings
to be sure everything is OK.
Then he gets a call. Officers have a
vehicle pulled off Old Plank Road.
Dombrowski checks in with Lincoln County
Communications that he’s on the way.
Upon arrival, a black male and white
female are standing outside a white
pickup. Officers are performing a
consented search of the vehicle while
Dombrowski is talking with the driver.
One of the officers places handcuffs on
the suspect after several minutes of
talking with Dombrowski and other
officers.
“Aw man,” said the suspect as
he was getting into a vehicle.
Dombrowski said the man was arrested
because he was driving with a revoked
license and had several failure to
appears for driving with a revoked
license.
“We’ve dealt with him
before,” said Dombrowski.
A short time later, another call comes
over the radio that there’s a loud
party with underage drinking on Hines
Circle Drive.
As Dombrowski responds, he sees a bonfire
outside the residence and hears several
people yell “the cops.”
Dombrowski checks everything out and
learns there isn’t any underage
drinking going on.
“There wasn’t any evidence of
drug use, either,” said Dombrowski.
“I told them to keep it down.”
Besides being on the road patrol,
Dombrowski is also a member of the
Lincoln County Tactical Team.
Some nights, the Charlie District
receives up to 20 calls per night. For
Dombrowski and crew, that’s a busy
night.
“Other nights, it’s dead,”
said Dombrowski, “especially when
the weather’s bad and there’s
not too many people on the roads.”
And when he’s not on duty, he likes
to be “on the move” at home.
While his wife likes to do things inside,
Dombrowski is at home being outside.
“Whether it’s planting
something or landscaping, I love the
outdoors,” said Dombrowski. “I
also like to go fishing on Lake
Norman.”
While Dombrowski wouldn’t reveal the
best places to fish on Lake Norman, he
said he likes to go fishing with friends
and fellow deputies John Isaccs and Jason
Hutchinson.
Dombrowski said the best advice he can
give men and women who want to go into
law enforcement is to treat everyone
professionally.
“Treat people with respect,”
said Dombrowski. “And give 100
percent to your job.”
