Earlier this month, Voorhees Police Department Detective Chris Tomasco and Detective Chase Waldman were honored with an award for Outstanding Police Work from the Camden County Detectives Association.
The award was given out amongst the pair’s peers for their work in apprehending a group of four armed men who robbed a Verizon store in Voorhees in 2022. The group of criminals broke into the store while it was closing, assaulting and tying up the store’s clerks en route to stealing thousands of dollars worth of phones and electronics.
Tomasco and Waldman were called to the scene a few minutes after the group fled, quickly responding and coordinating with the Philadelphia Police Department as the individuals had traveled over the Walt Whitman Bridge to commit the crimes.
Tomasco said the investigation was one of the first times he had to cooperate with the Philadelphia Police Department for such a high-level crime.
“We regularly work with the (surrounding) police departments. The Detective Association is a great way to network so we all know one another very well, there’s a lot of coordination and helping out one another,” said Tomasco, who was also sworn in as the Camden County Detective Association (CCDA) chaplain.
Waldman echoed his partners’ statements, alluding to the never ending learning that comes along with the nature of police work.
“The nice thing about the detective association is that it puts a face to the name, we’re always talking to one another on the phone. The detective association is about sharing ideas, experiences and training opportunities. We’re constantly learning from one another. If you stop learning in police work you should just retire…,” said Waldman.
The crime at the Verizon store was a “rarity” in Voorhees, Waldman and Tomasco stated, noting the community is one of the safest in South Jersey. However, police work is police work and the approach to the work, despite the details, doesn’t change.
“It’s like any other case. You are just putting together a puzzle and eventually down the road you have to convince other people – a jury – that they did it… (The nature of the crime) certainly makes the stakes of the crime higher, but the process is more or less the same,” Waldman said.
