Friends, Loved Ones Say Goodbye To 22-Year-Old Fallen Cliffside Park Officer Stephen Petruzzello
CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - Police on motorcycles circled in front of the funeral home on Anderson Avenue in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, during the wake for a special police officer killed in an accident last week.
As WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported, friends, family, and even strangers said goodbye to 22-year-old Stephen Petruzzello.
He and another special officer, Thaier Abdallah, were both hit by a truck while on walking patrol Friday at First and Walker streets. Abdallah underwent surgery on Saturday and is expected to survive.
"It's just so sad. Something that's so young and someone that was doing good work in the community should have such a bad start to a new year," Anital Williams said.
Williams didn't know him personally, but came to pay her respects after recognizing his face in the newspaper.
"I'm almost 60. You just think what it was like to be 22, almost close to New Year's, you're thinking of hanging out with your friends," she said.
The 62-year-old driver isn't being charged, but faces several motor vehicle summonses, Miller reported.
Cliffside Park Acting Mayor and Council President Thomas Calabrese announced last week that Petruzzello was posthumously promoted to the rank of a full police officer at a Monday emergency meeting if the Borough Council. Police badge 133 was presented to his family.
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