SHINING LIGHT

Franklin's 'patrolman' now is an EPD officer

Richard Gootee
richard.gootee@courierpress.com

The "Patrolman of Franklin Street" is now an official Evansville Police Department officer, badge No. 980.

Nic Didia (left) views a video his aunt, Lindsay Ritter, had made earlier in the day of the ceremony making him an honorary police officer Friday morning. Didia is a big fan of the police and spends much of his day outside his parents' ice cream shop, Milk & Sugar Scoop Shoppe at 2021 W. Franklin Street, patrolling the sidewalk and waving to police.

Those familiar with the West Franklin area have probably already met 18-year-old Nic Didia. Didia, who has muscular dystrophy and is wheelchair-bound, is a fixture outside his mother's two businesses -- the Sweet Peony and the just-opened Milk and Sugar ice cream shop -- and is often on the sidewalk meeting as many people as possible.

New ice cream shop opens on Franklin Street

Many of those people, including several police officers as well as Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, attended Friday morning's ceremony on the sidewalk outside the two shops.

"Nic, I have to tell you that Franklin Street is safer because you help the crime prevention unit with all your great patrolling," Winnecke said as he handed the newest officer his badge and plaque. "It would be nice if all the residents in the city have the dedication to public safety as you do."

But Didia wasn't all that outgoing until recently, said his mother, Alisha Didia. It's a transformation that she credits area police officers and other passers-by for, which made Friday's ceremony even more special. Alisha Didia recalled pulling her son out of school years ago and homeschooling him because he was having anxiety issues about being judged by people around him. The teen always been fascinated by first responders and spent the first day Sweet Peony was opened outside waiting for them to go by, remembered his mother.

"We thought that he'd be wanting to hide in the back. But from the time first time an officer stopped, he was into (looking) at the car, waving to them, watching for them." Alisha Didia  said. "Now he talks to any person who comes by. He really has opened up. He thinks that he has a job here (as a patrolman) and that's he's patrolling the strip here."

Friday's ceremony was thanks to the effort of officer Jay Pagett. He has met Nic several times and after speaking to Alisha about her son's fascination with law enforcement he wanted do something special for him. In addition to the department, Sigel's Uniform and Heritage Petroleum contributed to making a Nic an honorary officer.

Nic Didia (left) is congratulated by Officer Nick Sandullo after he was named an honorary Evansville police officer in a ceremony outside Didia's family's ice cream shop, Milk & Sugar Scoop Shoppe at 2021 W. Franklin Street, Friday morning.

"(His mother) said that his dream was he wanted to be a police officer, and I just thought maybe we can make that happen,'" Pagett said.

Pagett was one of the first officers to stop and talk to Nic Didia. After learning Didia's story, Pagett started encouraging his colleagues to stop by West Franklin Street to meet their biggest fan.

But Friday wasn't the first time the teen has been recognized for his crime prevention efforts.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff's deputy Dion Wingerter got Nic a sheriff's badge for Christmas, and it's something that "never comes off," according to Alisha Didia. In fact, Nic came into Friday's police ceremony with the deputy badge pinned to his chest -- and his K9 partner, a stuffed German shepherd, across the back of his wheelchair.

Alisha Didia said she was excited about Friday's ceremony for more than just the joy it brought her son -- and it was a lot of joy. She also wanted to make sure the officers got credit for the caring acts that they do. Milk and Sugar offers free ice cream to all first responders, partly because of the interactions Nic Didia has had with them.

"The police have gone so far out of their way to welcome him. They come by a couple times a week and they put their siren on and wave or holler his name out the window." she said. "I mean, they have gone above and beyond."

Alisha Didia said she isn't sure what started her son's love for first responders, though she noted he was a local and state ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association when he was younger. She said that he has an iPhone he can use in bed and that he uses it to search YouTube for police chases and parades with fire engines and squad cars.

Nic Dudia, 18, reacts to a police siren emanating from a police cruiser on Franklin Street Friday morning.

"Anytime, that we were out, when he saw one in uniform, he'd go straight to them," she recalled.

Alisha Didia was able to keep the surprise ceremony, which had planned for a couple of weeks, under wraps from her son and even got his older sister, Kelsey, to take leave from the Air Force to come home for it. However, Alisha Didia did note that the city's newest police officer did get a little suspicious when she made go get a haircut earlier this week.

"We had his hair cut a couple days ago, and he said, 'What are you cutting my hair for?' And I said 'it's just time for a haircut,' but (I was thinking), I don't want what you on TV with curls all over.'" she said with a laugh.