Irvington Fire Chief Comes To Woman's Rescue During Stabbing At Metro-North Train Station
IRVINGTON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A local fire chief is being hailed as a hero after coming to the rescue of a woman during a stabbing in Irvington.
While driving his daughters to play softball around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Irvington fire Chief Chris DePaoli saw a man stabbing a woman near the Metro-North train station, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
DePaoli said he initially thought the incident was a purse snatching. But when he jumped out of his car, he saw a man "plunging a knife into the girl."
DePaoli grabbed a softball bat and confronted the attacker, telling him to stop.
Irvington Fire Chief Interrupts Attack At Metro-North Train Station
"I radioed in to the Police Department," DePaoli told Adams. "I got out of the car, told the guy to stop again and get away from her, realized what was going on, went back to get my daughter's bat to try to get between them, get him off of her because she definitely needed help.
"I go, 'You want a piece of this?' He actually said yes." DePaoli told CBS2's Alice Gainer. " ... OK, I didn't expect that answer neither."
With the man's attention on him, DePaoli said he then got between him and the victim.
Then, off-duty police officer Jim Egloff and another cop showed up, and the suspect started to slash his own neck.
One of the officers then Tasered him.
Both the victim and suspect were taken to Westchester Medical Center.
The woman, identified only as a 36-year-old from Yonkers, was critically injured with multiple stab wounds to her neck and back. She required emergency surgery, Gainer reported.
The suspect is a 51-year-old from Mount Vernon, authorities said.
Police said they have children together, but their relationship isn't clear. Investigators said a domestic incident report had been filed days earlier in a different town.
The investigation is ongoing and charges have yet to be filed, cops said.
Irvington residents say DePaoli went above and beyond the call of duty, but the fire chief said he doesn't want to be called a hero, adding he just did what any decent person would do.
"I'm definitely not trained for this," he said. " ... If it's a house fire, I can handle it. A car wreck, I can handle it. This was a curveball."
A curveball he handled with not just a bat, but bravery.
