Bunnell Police’s Shane Groth, Chief’s ‘Right-Hand Man,’ Is Promoted to Lieutenant

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is large enough that it holds a recognition ceremony for its ranks every three months. It’s different in Bunnell, where any change in a police department of 14 uniformed officers radiates disproportionately on a small town of 3,500, as did the promotion of Shane Groth to lieutenant–essentially, second in command–in a pinning ceremony before the City Commission earlier this week.




Groth’s niece, 7-year-old Sydnee Groth, did the honors after Police Chief Dave Brannon, looking every part the proud patriarch, administered the oath and explained why he had promoted the 11-year veteran of the department from detective sergeant.

“Since I arrived here just over two years ago, a lot of work to be done both externally and internally,” Brannon said. “And the person that I could unquestionably rely on the most, for all the questions I had, challenges we were experiencing, contacts in the community that I needed to make, Shane Groth was my right-hand man. And I’m very honored to present him today with his promotion to Lieutenant.”

Back in the days when Brannon was at the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, and he was promoted to lieutenant, then-Sheriff Ben Johnson had called him into a side room and placed Brannon in the middle of a circle of cops. Brannon had no idea what was going on.

“The sheriff looked me square in the eyes and he said, Are you ready for this?” Brannon recalled. “Like, ready for what? And he said, you know, we treat our agency like a family. And you used to be the deputies’ daddy. That’s what we called a sergeant: a sergeant is the daddy. But now you’re their uncle, as their lieutenant. You’ve got to be the guy that can motivate them and encourage and inspire them. But you also have to kick them in the bleep every once in a while to to make sure we get our job done.” (Brannon used the word “bleep.”) “So that’s a challenge you have before you, and I charged you with the same.”

Brannon then read “The Lieutenant’s Creed” before swearing him in. Groth had asked his niece and her parents, Melissa and Brennan Groth, along with his fiancée, Alesha Wilson, to join him in the well of the commission chamber at the Government Services Building. Just before the pinning, City Clerk Kristen Bates had the foresight to bring a chair for Sydnee to climb on so she could reach her uncle’s lapel.




Then it was Groth’s turn to himself present a couple of awards: a life-saving award to officer Alex Kilpatrick, whose CPR intervention enabled Mario Martinez Santiago, a resident, to survive a medical episode, and a life saving award for officer Micheal Fansler, who saved Bruno McKay’s life by removing an obstruction in his throat. Both residents attended the meeting.

Santiago was in the habit of walking briskly in the neighborhood, witnesses told police. On March 8, Kilpatrick had noticed Santiago at the edge of Elm Street, not breathing. He administered CPR for the three minutes before an ambulance arrived and took the man to AdventHealth Palm Coast.

On March 17, Fansler was on patrol when he encountered an elderly man unresponsive in his wheelchair. It was unclear why. Fansler administered CPR, and an obstruction in McKay’s airway was later discovered. Fansler, the Bunnell Police Department’s first paid intern, graduated from Daytona State College’s law enforcement program and was sworn in as an officer last spring. He was also named the department’s Officer of the First Quarter of 2024.

“This is called community policing,” Mayor Catherine Robinson said as the ceremonies wrapped up. At the start of the meeting Robinson had also read a proclamation recognizing National Police Week.