By Deborah Deasy

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012, 12:38 p.m.
Updated: Monday, January 7, 2013

Michael C. Pecora, 54, of Richland is Hampton Township's new interim chief of police.

Hampton Council unanimously appointed Pecora to the job on Nov. 28 to replace retiring police chief Dan Connolly.

Connolly, 63, of McCandless, officially will retire Dec. 31, but vacated his office on Nov. 21 to use vacation time.

Pecora is a 1976 graduate of North Allegheny High School with a bachelor's degree in business administration from La Roche College.

Pecora sold overhead hoists and cranes for Follansbee & Gruner, Sharpsburg, before he joined the Hampton Police Department on Jan. 4, 1984.

“His passion was to get into police work. That's what I recall. He was a good fellow. He worked well,” said Bob Stewart, president and owner of Follansbee & Gruner. “Tell him (Pecora) ‘Congratulations,' and if they ever need a hoist at the police station, we're still here.”

Pecora is a single dad with two children: Air Force Sgt. Joseph Pecora, 28, of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Amber Pecora, 22, who works in the human resources department of Chicago's public school system.

About 160 family members, Hampton employees and friends honored Connolly, a one-time Washington, D.C. policeman, on Nov. 24 at a buffet dinner in Hampton Community Center. Connolly's family and Hampton Township hosted the event.

Deborah Deasy is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at ddeasy@tribweb.com

1. Steelers might be looking at a youth movement in 2013
2. Kovacevic: Do Senators have anything left?
3. Rossi: Late-game moves pay off
4. Penguins’ Dupuis earns teammates’ respect with consistent play
5. Gulf Tower ‘turns’ red over Pens goals
6. Penguins notebook: Spezza will return for Senators in Game 3
7. Trib poll: Peduto pulling ahead in Pittsburgh mayor’s race
8. Gorman: Pitt hoops could soon have Western Pa. flavor
9. Pirates notebook: Botched popup shocks Martin
10. Starkey: Robots over umps? Yes, please
11. Woman charged in fatal Lawrence County accident that killed cyclist

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.