State Senate Votes To Rename Nassau County Bridge For Slain Police Officer
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The New York State Senate on Tuesday approved legislation to rename a bridge in Bellerose, Long Island, for a Nassau County police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty last fall.
The Senate approved the bill to memorialize the bridge on the Jericho Turnpike crossing Cross Island Parkway, in the village of Bellerose, as the Police Officer Arthur Lopez Memorial Bridge.
Lopez, 29, was shot and killed in cold blood on Oct. 23, by a man whom he had allegedly pulled over for a traffic stop.
Lopez was a nine-year veteran of the Nassau County Police Department when he was shot in the chest and killed. He left behind a grieving family.
"Officer Lopez gave everything he had to the department and the citizens of Nassau County and ultimately made the supreme sacrifice. For the heroic actions he performed, not only on that tragic day, but all the others acts of bravery he displayed each and every day, this memorial bridge should serve as a constant reminder of the this young officer's sacrifice," state senators said.
Darrell Fuller, 33, has been charged in Lopez's murder, and another slaying afterward. Police say after killing Lopez, Fuller carjacked and killed 58-year-old Raymond Facey near the Hempstead Turnpike.
Fuller served four years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder in 2005. He was released in May 2011 after being jailed the year before for violating his parole.
If convicted, Fuller could face life in prison.
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