3 Cops Who Caught Mahwah Girl Who Jumped From Burning Building Honored

MAHWAH, N.J. — Three township police officers received Valor Awards from the 200 Club of Bergen County Wednesday for catching a 9-year-old girl who jumped 30 feet from a burning condominium building into their arms.

Lt. Jeffrey Dino, Sgt. Brendan Mullin, and Officer Thomas Solimano caught Sofya Doroshenko at the Society Hill Village apartment complex on Juniper Way Feb. 2. She leaped without hesitation from a third-story balcony as the fire raged behind her.

Valor Awards recognize an act of bravery, beyond the call of duty, and imminent personal risk to an officer's own life and safety, with knowledge of the risk involved.

Doroshenko was home alone when the fire occurred, police said. She tried to leave the building but the stairwell was filled with smoke and she went back inside the apartment. Dino was the one who convinced the Doroshenko to jump. She was surrounded by smoke when she jumped.

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Photo: Lt. Jeffrey Dino, Sgt. Brendan Mullin, and Officer Thomas Solimano honored at the 200 Club of Bergen County's Valor Awards dinner Wednesday. — Courtesy of Mayor William Laforet