Suffolk County PD LODD

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From www.newsday.com. May he RIP. :sad:

Suffolk cop who died in crash described as 'Superman'

 

Authorities investigate a single-car crash on the Northern State Parkway in Dix Hills Tuesday that killed Suffolk Police Officer Edwin Hernandez, inset.

(Photo by Wayne Carrington (crash))

By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher

Staff Writer

July 28, 2004

After helping close the Long Island Expressway for construction Monday night, Suffolk Police Officer Edwin Hernandez bid his sergeant and fellow officers goodnight, telling them to be careful.

That was his nature, always watching out for people. He was a highly decorated 19-year veteran who once saved a woman from crashing her vehicle on the LIE; a family man whose presence made others feel safe.

Hernandez, 44, of Ridge had been working the 3 to 11 p.m. shift for Highway Patrol and had put in an hour of overtime. Shortly after midnight, he was heading west on the Northern State Parkway to drop off his 2003 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car on Route 110 in Huntington and pick up his own car, Commissioner Richard Dormer said. For some reason, Hernandez lost control of the patrol car and hit a guardrail, then a tree, near Deer Park Avenue in Dix Hills.

A passing motorist called 911. After rescue workers arrived, a police helicopter took Hernandez to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 1 a.m., Dormer said.

Second Squad detectives were trying to determine what caused the crash. Police yesterday were unable to say how fast Hernandez was driving. An autopsy was scheduled for yesterday.

Hernandez is the first Suffolk police officer to die in the line of duty in nearly a decade. In 1995, Sgt. Timothy Henck, 30, died after a burglary suspect crashed into his patrol car on the LIE.

Monday night, as Hernandez prepared to close the LIE, he talked to his cousin, Victor Canales, 27, of Holbrook, on his cell phone. Usually, when Canales was done working as disc jockey "Vic Latino" for WKTU/103.5 in Jersey City, he would meet Hernandez near Exit 49, Canales said yesterday. Following his cousin home as they headed east was a comforting routine, Canales said.

But when they talked that night, Hernandez told him he'd be working overtime. "He said, 'I'll see you today,' " Canales recalled. So near Exit 51, where Hernandez was stationed, they waved at each other as Canales drove past.

Hernandez was awarded Cop of the Year twice and Cop of the Month eight times, Dormer said. A member of the Highway Patrol Bureau, Hernandez's past assignments included working undercover with the Narcotics Enforcement Team.

"We lost one of our finest officers last night," Dormer said yesterday afternoon. "He was involved in a lot of live-saving incidents."

In 1994, Hernandez was named Cop of the Year for helping a Virginia State Trooper arrest someone along I-95. Hernandez was driving home from a vacation in Florida when he noticed the trooper struggling with a man, Dormer said. The trooper had suffered a heart attack in the midst of trying to make an arrest. Hernandez also helped translate for troopers at the scene because the man in custody spoke only Spanish.

In 2002, Hernandez saved the life of a woman on the LIE who was driving a Chevy Blazer that had a malfunctioning accelerator and couldn't stop. Hernandez positioned his patrol car to prevent the Blazer from hitting other vehicles on the expressway, letting it crash into his back bumper. The woman he saved, Elizabeth Jordan of Mount Sinai, called police officials early yesterday to express her condolences, Dormer said.

Hernandez was living a childhood dream of becoming a police officer, his cousin said, adding that he was dedicated to their large Puerto Rican family. Canales acted as the family spokesman yesterday, saying Hernandez's wife was too distraught to talk about her husband.

Hernandez is survived by his wife, Coralee; their two children, Edwin, 25, and Tania, 21, both of Ridge; his parents, Jovita and Nicholas Hernandez, and his brother Nicholas Hernandez and sister Diana Apicella, all of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; and two grandchildren, Max Navarro, 5, and Brandon Hernandez, 2.

The family will receive visitors today and tomorrow, 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Maloney Funeral Home in Holbrook. A police service will be held there tomorrow at 8 p.m. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Friday at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Holbrook.

Officers who worked with Hernandez on the LIE Monday night were too distraught to talk yesterday but told Dormer that before Hernandez left he had said "Goodnight and be careful."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy returned early from the Democratic National Convention in Boston yesterday morning after hearing of Hernandez's death. The two graduated from Sachem High School in 1977, Levy said. "I would have been here for any downed officer," he said. "But you make that extra effort for someone you knew personally."

Above all, Hernandez's cousin said, their family has lost their hero. "He was the backbone of the family," Canales said. "He was Superman to us." 

Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

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Very saddening to see a LODD of any man or woman in a civil service job anywhere.

Hopes and prayers for his family and friends. RIP