Valor Awards
Meritorious Service
Lieutenant George
Sestan-Raposo
Officer Robert Garcia
Officer Xavier Romo
North Bergen Local 18
The Three Musketeers
In law enforcement, the more backup that you have, the mer-
rier. For Lieutenant George Sestan-Raposo, Officer Robert Garcia
and Officer Xavier Romo of North Bergen Local 18, this statement
definitely holds true.
On Feb. 5, Garcia received a broadcast of a suspicious vehicle
that may be occupied by a male with a gun. He located the vehi-
cle in a Quick Chek parking lot, but it was unoccupied when he
arrived. He observed a male make his way over to the vehicle and
quickly confronted him. Suddenly, a struggle ensued between the
male and Garcia as he attempted to detain the suspect, who then
made his way into the vehicle. The suspect started the engine and
drove off, running over Garcia’s foot in the process.
As Garcia went after the vehicle, Sestan-Raposo and Romo
joined him. They followed the vehicle into an alley where the
suspect exited and ran into a residence. When the officers ap-
proached the residence, the suspect opened fire upon them.
Fortunately, the officers set up a perimeter and held the suspect
at bay until more officers were able to arrive and take him into
custody.
The three of them all work together in the patrol division, with
Sestan-Raposo having been on the force for 14 years, Garcia for
seven and Romo, still fairly new, for two-and-a-half years.
Both Garcia and Romo have military experience – Garcia being
an Iraqi War veteran and Romo spending four years in the Ma-
rine Corps – which they say gave them the confidence to defend
themselves against the suspect.
In addition, North Bergen is an accredited agency, so Local 18
is always providing the officers a multitude of training opportu-
Meritorious Service
Officer Eric Harris
Officer Lawrence DiFabio, Jr.
Toms River Local 137
Second time around
It was surreal for Officer Eric Harris to return to the NJ State
Valor Awards for a second time as a Toms River Local 137 offi-
cer recipient. After receiving a Gold Medal of Valor in 2006 for a
shooting incident that resulted in him getting run over by a stolen
car, Harris could hardly believe that he was living reality when he
was once again staring down the barrel of a gun on July 17, 2016.
“I couldn’t believe that this was happening again,” Harris ad-
mitted.
Harris was investigating a suspicious vehicle parked near a
bulkhead around 11:30 p.m. Upon his request for the suspect to
step out of the vehicle, the suspect pulled out a gun a