A New York Police Department (NYPD) recruit was rescued from a burning car at the age of two, meeting her two rescuers for the first time since the events of 1996.
Officer Dennise Gomez was just a child when Detectives Eric Ocasio and Charles Claudio pulled her, her mother and her little brother from a burning vehicle in East Harlem.
As the New York Post reported, the young police officer was reunited with the two men who had urged her to choose the career during an emotional event last Friday. At this event, the young woman received Charles Claudio's badge number.
“When we say police officers make a real difference, it’s clearly not just words, it’s lives.” [de Gomez] is her legacy,” New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban said as he presented Gomez with the badge, moving Claudio to tears. “And now her work is his work.”
In 1996, NYPD officers Eric Ocasio and Charles Claudio rescued a mother and her two young children from a burning car on 116 Street in Harlem.
One of the children rescued was Dennise Gomez, now an NYPD police officer herself @NYPD90Pct.
Today the three are… pic.twitter.com/Dm2JUh1Agg
— Edward A. Caban (@NYPDPC) January 13, 2024
Dennise Gomez entered the police academy in 2022. Although she doesn't remember the event, she said it inspired her to try out for the NYPD.
“It means a lot. It's an honor. I hope I can do exactly what they did for others. “That's why we're here: to help others, to be there and to serve,” she said, citing the two retired detectives “superheroes”.
The two men were also deeply touched by the young policewoman's story.
“It is a positive effect to know that as a young man joining the police force you have made an impact. You always dream of something like that and you want to do it well, you want to do good. But to learn, 10 years after my retirement, that this young woman wanted to move on because of what my partner and I did that day is very rewarding,” Eric Ocasio said through tears.
“I’m just glad she joined our (police) family. It's a family. I feel like I've gained another girl,” Charles Claudio said of Gomez, adding that it was a “great honor” for him to experience this moment.