The Mounted Officers

The Unit currently has two officers assigned to active patrol and five additional field riders.

 

Officer Ryan Danko - Active Patrol

Officer Danko has been a Police Officer with the City of Bethlehem Police Department since 2010 and has been assigned to the Mounted Patrol Unit since 2018. Before joining the Mounted Unit, he served as a patrolman primarily assigned to the South Side districts of the city. Prior to law enforcement, Officer Danko served in the United States ARMY as an Infantryman. He served with both the 9th Infantry Regiment while deployed to South Korea, and the 101st Airborne Division while deployed to Iraq. Officer Danko is originally from Bethlehem and is a graduate of Liberty High School.  

Officer Justin Madera - Active Patrol

Officer Madera has been a Police Officer with the City of Bethlehem Police Department since January 2008 and has been assigned to the Mounted Patrol Unit since 2020. Before joining the mounted unit, he served the residents of Bethlehem and the Department in various ways including service as an Honor Guard, a Field Training Officer, and a Detective with the Forensic Services Unit. Prior to law enforcement. Officer Madera served in the ARMY as a mechanic and spent time with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), Camp Casey, Korea and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Officer Al Strydesky - Field Rider

Officer Strydesky has been a Police Officer with the City of Bethlehem Police Department since 2010 and has been assigned to the Mounted Patrol Unit since 2018. Prior to law enforcement, Officer Strydesky worked in the compressed gas industry for twelve years.

As a member of the mounted police, Officer Strydesky enjoys the personal contact the horses encourage from the citizens of Bethlehem and the greater Lehigh Valley. He views the service of the mounted unit within the department as an ice breaker between the community and police officers.

Officer Mark Kuntzman - Field Rider

Officer Kuntzman has been a Police Officer with the City of Bethlehem Police Department since January 2017 and has been assigned to the Mounted Patrol Unit since 2021. Prior to law enforcement, Officer Kuntzman served in the MARINES for 8 years. He served in the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion in Iraq in 2009. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010-2011. Originally from Ohio, he moved to the Lehigh Valley Area in 2015.

Officer Mervinson Lopez - Field Rider

Officer Lopez has been a Police Officer with the City of Bethlehem Police Department since December 2019. He has been assigned to the Mounted Patrol Unit since 2022 as a field rider.     Prior to law enforcement, Officer Lopez served in the Army as a Paratrooper for 108th Air Defender Artillery Brigade, Airborne Platoon stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Officer Wilfredo Cruz, Jr. - Field Rider

Officer Cruz has been a Police Officer for the City of Bethlehem Police Department since 2014. He was assigned as a Field rider in 2022. He has completed various trainings including the Pennsylvania State Police Mounted Program, Sights and Triggers Advanced Pistol and Carbine Courses, and the International Police Mountain Bike Course. He was a recipient of the HeartSaver Hero Award in Dec of 2014.