Caldwell Police Department & Verona Police Department

(pictured from left to right) 2006 Valor Award Recipients Caldwell Police Officers Demetrious Andinopoulos, Brad Palatucci and Verona Police Officer Michael Traettino and Essex County Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura.

Police Officer Demetrious Andinopoulos and Police Officer Brad Palatucci
Caldwell Police Department

Police Officer Michael Traettino
Verona Police Department

Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on July 21, 2006, an intoxicated driver careened across multiple traffic lanes and crashed his vehicle into and through Forte’s pizzeria on Bloomfield Avenue. The car was ultimately stopped when it slammed into the restaurant’s counter. Bursting into flames and setting the entire building ablaze, the driver was trapped inside his vehicle.

Caldwell Officers Demetrious Andinopoulos and Brad Palatucci were on patrol at that time and responded to the crash site. Radioing for assistance, Verona Police Officer Michael Traettino also arrived on the scene within moments. Totally disregarding their own personal safety, the three officers rushed into the burning building where they battled heavy smoke conditions, broken glass and dangling ‘live’ electrical wires.

When Andinopoulos, Palatucci and Traettino reached driver they immediately realized that the man was too inebriated to speak and that he was having difficulty breathing. The driver was also bleeding profusely and he had suffered compound fractures to his legs and his ribs. The three officers quickly, yet carefully, extricated the driver from his vehicle and removed him from the burning inferno. Once outside, the officers performed triage on the driver, ignoring their own need for first aid from smoke inhalation, and radioed for additional emergency services personnel.

The driver was subsequently taken to University Hospital for treatment of his injuries and he was charged with drunken driving, reckless driving, failure to maintain a lane and not wearing his seatbelt. Caldwell and Essex Fells fire departments had the fire under control within 20 minutes and the scene was finally cleared at 7:00 a.m. when it was determined that it was safe to tow the car from the pizzeria. Throughout this incident the three officers acted in perfect professional harmony, exhibiting selfless bravery, unconditional dedication to duty and outstanding cooperation between police departments. The heroic actions of these three officers saved the life of a driver who had put our community at risk because of his recklessness.

The 200 Club of Essex County proudly presented Valor Awards to Officers Demetrious Andinopoulos, Brad Palatucci and Michael Traettino.

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