The Odessa Police Department announced Wednesday its March Officer of the Month, who conducted investigations resulting in nine felony arrests in March.
Officer Nathaniel Garcia, 21, was given the award, who has been an OPD officer for about six months since November, and graduated from the Odessa Police Academy in July.
Garcia said he was happy to be shown the recognition.
“It’s a proud moment, showing my hard work paid off,” Garcia said Wednesday. “It’s not going to stop here.”
Garcia is an Odessa native, born and raised here, and graduated from Permian High School. He is currently assigned to the Operations Bureau, Patrol Shift A.
One of the incidents Garcia was recognized for involved the arrests of seven suspects charged with burglary of a habitation, a second-degree felony, theft of property, a state jail felony, and burglary of a vehicle, a class A misdemeanor.
Garcia had been called about a burglary on March 23 in the 900 block of West 31st Street, where he was told about several auto burglaries in the area and a stolen vehicle, an OPD news release stated.
During the investigation, Garcia observed seven suspects running from a residence in the area, the release detailed, and managed to located and arrest all seven. After obtaining a search warrant for the residence they ran away from, stolen property was recovered and returned to its owner.
That was just one of nine felony arrests Garcia conducted in March, but Garcia doesn’t find it stressful. He said he considers it part of the job he was assigned to do.
“I always go out and give 110 percent,” Garcia said. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I was a little boy.”
