Special Olympics Connecticut (SOCT) has appointed Lieutenant Donald Crabtree of the Wethersfield Police Department, and Todd Pelazza, Director of Public Safety at Fairfield University, as volunteer Co-Directors of its Law Enforcement Torch Run Council, the leadership body that oversees statewide law enforcement activities that support the organization and its more than 13,000 athletes and partners. These activities include the Law Enforcement Torch Run, an annual three-day Run that officers from across the state participate in to raise awareness and gain support for Special Olympics, and year-round law-enforcement-driven fundraising events. Both Crabtree and Pelazza are longtime Special Olympics Connecticut volunteers, who’ve demonstrated outstanding commitment to furthering the organization’s mission of inspiring acceptance, opportunity and respect for individuals with intellectual disabilities through sport.
Crabtree began participating in the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run in 1996. In 1999, he stepped up to represent his Department as the Town Captain for the Torch Run and later served as a Leg Coordinator. He volunteered at the International Law Enforcement Torch Run Conference when it came to Connecticut in 2009 and was chosen to represent Connecticut at international conferences in Oklahoma and Texas. He joined the Law Enforcement Torch Run Council as the Eastern Region Regional Coordinator in 2009. He has also organized and participated in fundraisers including the Wethersfield Police’s Tip-A-Cop and Cop-on-Top events, the Penguin Plunge and the Guts & Glory Challenge.
Crabtree joined the Wethersfield Police Department in 1995. He has served the Department as its Juvenile Detective, a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Instructor, Training Unit Supervisor and a certified law enforcement instructor. He was recognized as the Department’s Officer of the Year in 2007. Crabtree was promoted to Lieutenant in 2010 and is currently the commander of the Department’s Support Services Bureau. He resides in Wethersfield with his wife Sharan and their two children, Lauren and Michael.
Pelazza first began volunteering for Special Olympics in the 1980’s, when Summer Games were held at Fairfield University. Since then, he’s served as a volunteer on numerous Games committees, and the committee that organized the 2009 International Law Enforcement Torch Run Conference in Connecticut. He’s been honored with Special Olympics Connecticut’s “Unsung Hero Award” and was chosen to be inducted into its Shriver Society.
Todd Pelazza
Pelazza received a law degree from the University of New Haven and not long after joined the Fairfield University Public Safety staff. He’s moved through the ranks as Officer, Supervisor, Assistant Director, and Associate Director. In 1993, he was promoted to Director of the Department, the position he presently holds. At Fairfield University, he is the Advisor of the student Special Olympics Club. His professional achievements earned him the title of “National Security Director of the Year” in Access Control and Security Integration Magazine in 2001. And, he was named “Director of the Year” Finalist by Campus Safety Magazine in 2008. He is also currently a Branford Police Officer. Pelazza resides in Guilford with his wife Anne and has two children and two step-children.
