POLICE WEEK 2015: THE CANDLELIGHT VIGIL
In front of Petruzzello’s wrapped Mustang,
from left, Cliffside Park Sergeant J.D. York,
Stephen’s parents Linda and Ron Petruzzello,
Cliffside Park Captain Anthony Frato (ret.)
and Cliffside Park Local 96 State Delegate
Sergio Khanukayev.
His dream came true
n BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
Ron and Linda Petruzzello remember
a son who wrote in a high school assignment that it was his dream to be a hero.
Based on the love shown by his family, the
honor demonstrated by his police colleagues to ride 300 miles for him in the
Police Unity Tour, and the honor
bestowed upon him by a department that
posthumously promoted him from special officer to police officer, it seems Cliffside Park’s Stephen Petruzzello’s dream
became reality.
But for those closest to Stephen who
came to Washington D.C. by bicycle or by
Mustang to remember him at National
Police Week’s Candlelight Vigil, their
hero’s loss is none the easier.
“I was choking up just coming here,”
expressed Ron, who constantly relives
that horrible night he lost his hero:
Stephen had been too busy to celebrate his 22nd birthday on Nov. 25, so the
family agreed to a joint party with his
brother, Michael, on his Dec. 27 birthday.
They sang “Happy Birthday” to both of
them, and Stephen let his younger brother blow out the birthday candles.
Stephen then got dressed for work at
the town’s South End. Ron fixed his son’s
collar and told him to be careful.
“I went out to play the lottery and in
the back of my mind I thought I would
drive by where he worked and make sure
he was OK,” Ron recalled of his fatherly
ritual. “But we got to talking at the store
and I forgot all about it. I came home and
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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JUNE 2015
STEPHEN PETRUZZELLO
Cliffside Park Police Department
put on my pajamas and that’s when the
doorbell rang and it was all over.”
Stephen, who was only a month into
his duty as a part-time special police officer, was struck and fatally injured by a car
while on foot patrol that night.
“It was 20 minutes after he was on
duty. I would have been there at the scene
if I didn’t get to talking,” Ron struggled to
express. “You wonder if you could have
done anything; you might not be able to
change the outcome but I would have
been able to be with him. In my mind
that’s a big difference.”
In the months since the accident,
Stephen was promoted to full-time police
officer status, officially bringing him into
the brotherhood of heroes to which he
always aspired. At home, his father found
his own way to honor his lost son.
“This is my son’s 2007 Ford Mustang,”
Ron said as he pointed to the car wrapped
in a custom cover consisting of Stephen’s
official police photo, the American flag, the
logo for Concerns of Police Survivors
(C.O.P that helped the Petruzzello family
.S.)
through their tragedy, and that of the
Police Unity Tour, in which three of
Stephen’s Cliffside Park PD colleagues rode
in his honor. “My son passed away four
months ago and this has been in the planning for the last three. We took his car and
we decided to make it into a memorial and
we wanted to honor everyone that was
involved; everyone who has been incredible supporting us in every way.”
Before travelling from New Jersey to
Washington D.C., the Mustang and Unity
Tour riders were given a proper sendoff
from the Cliffside Park police station.
Mayor Gerald Calabrese paid tribute, Our
Lady of Grace Parish’s Reverend Peter
Sticco blessed the car and the riders, and
local school children came out to pay
tribute to their town’s hero.
Four days and 300 miles later, members of the Cliffside Park contingent
made their way through rows of honor
guards to their seats for the Candlelight
Vigil service. For Ron, that might have
been the hardest part of Police Week.
“Coming in with the motorcycle
brigade in front of us brought back memories of (Stephen’s) funeral,” he noted. “I
got choked up on the bus, and walking
with my escort to my seat, we didn’t talk
about anything. It was quiet.”
Part of the group was Stephen’s partner, Cliffside Park Officer Thaier
Abdallah, who was also struck during the
accident. Abdallah suffered a cracked
skull, concussion and bruising, and has
since mostly recovered.
“It’s heartfelt and bittersweet to be
here,” Abdallah expressed at the Vigil. “I
think about Stephen all the time. It’s not
easy. He was only 22 years old and full of
admiration