Four Patchogue Village public safety officers, Sgt. Joseph O’Connell, Sgt. Dominic Surinaga, officer Alexander Iacono-Hall and officer Marcus Gipson, stopped a car driving down Main Street where the driver was in an apparent medical episode and passed out at about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27.
While driving down the opposite side of Main Street, public safety director Jim Berberich said, his officers noticed a car rolling very slowly and other cars passing. After getting approval to drive in front of the slow rolling car to stop it, they then got out broke the window to the locked vehicle and put the car in park before getting the man out of the car.
O’Connell assessed the situation quickly and gave the green light to stop the vehicle by contact, while Surinaga closed down the road. Officers Gipson and Iacono-Hall stopped the vehicle, broke the window, placed it in park and then pulled the driver out to the curb and administered two Narcan doses and CPR.
“It all happened very quickly,” Berberich said, noting that the man was taken to the hospital and is now okay. “If they had not stopped the vehicle, it was headed for West Avenue and Main Street; it could have been a disaster hitting pedestrians or other vehicles.”
Public safety officers, Berberich said, often get involved and help in many incidents that go mostly unnoticed.
“They did a fantastic job that night stopping a moving vehicle before it proceeded into a busy intersection and prevented what could have resulted in tragic consequences,” he added.
The officers have since also received a village proclamation from mayor Paul Pontieri at last the last board meeting on Monday, Feb. 12.