People

* Spotlight on achievers

Kari Armstrong

Police officer, La Habra

City Police Officer Kari Armstrong has campaigned for years to persuade people not to drink and drive.

“I’ve always been against drunk driving,” the 30-year-old officer said, “because as a teen-ager I saw kids lose their lives in drunk-driving accidents.” Her conviction became a crusade last year, though, after her partner on the force, 26-year-old Michael Anthony Osornio, was struck and killed by a drunken driver.

Since then, Armstrong has arrested 36 people on drunk-driving charges, more than any other officer in La Habra. For her dedication, Armstrong was given an award last month by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

William Neessen, president of the Orange County chapter of MADD, said in presenting the award, “People like Kari Armstrong are our heroes.”

The City Council and Armstrong’s supervisors also commended her for her work.

“Kari is a fine young officer, and we appreciate her example in this manner to the rest of us,” Police Chief Steven Staveley said.

Armstrong accepted all of the accolades on behalf of Osornio, her partner for a year, her personal friend and the first La Habra police officer to die in the line of duty.

“It seems like everybody knows somebody who died in a drunk-driving accident,” she said. “It’s really a senseless epidemic that can be stopped.

“I feel that as an officer I can help stop some of this. . . . It’s something that’s so easy to prevent.”

Osornio, a rookie, was on routine patrol when a 51-year-old La Mirada driver, Marco Villegas Ramirez, ran a red light and crashed into the officer’s cruiser.

Armstrong, the first person on the scene, stayed with Osornio until he died hours later at a local hospital.

Ramirez, found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.18--more than double the legal limit at which intoxication is presumed--was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the accident.

Armstrong, who has been on the La Habra police force for nearly four years, said of the tragedy, “Now I feel I have a special purpose. I feel like I’ve saved a life every time I arrest a drunk driver.”

*

Pamela Stoker

Interim city clerk, Tustin

Pamela Stoker, a part-time city planner for Yorba Linda, has been appointed to serve the remaining term of Tustin’s longtime clerk, Mary E. Wynn, who has resigned.

Stoker was chosen from a pool of eight applicants. A Tustin resident for three years, she holds a degree in urban planning from Brigham Young University and has done post-graduate work in public administration at Cal State Long Beach.

When Wynn’s term expires in March, the city will hold an election to fill the position permanently.