Manalapan Police Officers Honored As ‘Heroes' By NJ Devils

MANALAPAN, NJ - The Manalapan Township Police Department was recently recognized by the New Jersey Devils for a lifesaving rescue conducted in 2020.

During a recent New Jersey Devils game, the police department was honored with a “Heroes Among Us” distinction and a feature on the arena Jumbotron (see video below).

In a Facebook post depicting the event, Manalapan police recognized officers Alaimo, McCarthy, Porricelli, and Sosnowski as well as Sgt. Mikulik for their heroic efforts in April 2020 in which the group ultimately saved a 2-year-old child who had drowned in his swimming pool.

The officers were called to a Manalapan residence on April 22, 2020 after the child was pulled out of the pool by his father, police said. At the scene, officers found the child not breathing and with no pulse. Multiple rounds of CPR were performed, which resulted in the child regaining his pulse and coughing up water.

"They were able to find a pulse and put Marc on oxygen," the 2-year-old’s mother, Graciela Saldua Price, told Patch previously. "By the time he was in the ambulance, his heart was beating and he was marginally breathing thanks to the EMTs and police officers' actions."

Officers from multiple jurisdictions provided an escort for the ambulance to transport the child to the hospital where he was in critical condition, the department wrote on social media.

“As of today, the child has made a full recovery and our officers were honored by the NJ Devils organization as, “Heroes Among Us”. Amazing work by these officers," Manalapan police said of their own.

Watch the video of the "Heroes Among Us" recognition below: