East Orange's Finest: Local Cops Earn ‘Valor Awards’

EAST ORANGE, NJ — When the 200 Club of Essex County hosts its 51st “Valor Awards” ceremony in Belleville on May 4, there will literally be dozens of heroes in the room. This year, the annual awards - designed to honor the inspiring acts of courage that define the county’s emergency responders – include seven local law enforcement officers and 34 firefighters.

The contingent of heroes includes two East Orange police officers this year.

“The job of a police officer or firefighter is tougher today than ever before,” stated Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, a member of The 200 Club’s board of trustees. “Law enforcement and firefighting are extremely hazardous professions which are performed at tremendous personal risk.”

Here’s what earned these East Orange cops their 2017 awards, according to the 200 Club of Essex County:

"On Nov. 22, 2016, Officer Christopher Kyer and Officer Segundo Marquez were assigned to the city’s Safe Corridors program as students were dismissed from school that day.

"At that time, the officers immediately responded to a broadcast by East Orange Police Communications that two suspects had displayed a handgun at Park Avenue and North Walnut Street.

"The suspects, who were readily identified by the officers, ran from the scene. On foot, Kyer and Marquez pursued the suspect who was holding onto an item in his pocket. Disregarding commands by the pursuing officers to stop, the suspect knelt behind a bush, removed a handgun from his pocket, aimed it at the officers and fired one shot.

"Kyer and Marquez took cover, drew their service weapons and demonstrated tremendous restraint in not returning fire.

"Their repeated commands to drop the weapon finally bore fruit. The suspect threw his weapon to the ground and he was placed under arrest.

"Throughout this incident, the officers displayed courage, restraint and professionalism in making the East Orange community safer and more secure."

ESSEX COUNTY VALOR AWARD WINNERS

The 2017 Valor Award recipients include:

• East Orange Police Officers Christopher Kyer and Segundo Marquez for “the capture of an armed suspect”
• Millburn Police Detective Lieutenant David Bonney for “the rescue of an eight-year-old autistic boy who fell into the Rahway River”
• Millburn Fire Department Captain Christopher Beady and Firefighter Edgar Echavarria for “the high-angle rooftop rescue of an emotionally distraught eight-year-old boy with functional challenges from a residential fire”
• Newark Police Lieutenant Darrell White and Essex County Sheriff’s Detective Abdullah Holmes for “the capture of an armed murder suspect”
• Newark Firefighter Jeremy Larena for “the rescue of an unconscious male victim from a residential fire”
• Newark Fire Captains Carl Carpenter and Helder Fonseca, and Firefighters Kevin Daniel, Ivan Encarnacion, Jerome Fernandes, Louis Maisonave, Carlos Martinez and Hilton Reynolds for “the rescue of three adults, an infant and a dog from a residential fire”
• Several Montclair Firefighters and Millburn Fire Battalion Chief James Boyle for “the trench rescue of a male victim who became entombed when a residential oil tank and its support dirt walls collapsed on him during their removal” (Montclair honorees include Fire Chief John Herrmann, Battalion Chief Greg Murray, Captain Chris Russo, Lieutenants Anthony Acocella, John Grapes, Dave Hill, Bill Morrison and Kevin Sweeney and Firefighters Scott Bowman, Sebastian Covello, Adam Duchinsky, Keith Ferenz, John Fierro, Chris Herrmann, Dave Jones, Artie Karydes, C. J. Miller, Kevin Palek, Kurt Reinhardt, Bill Roth, Jeffrey Testa and Levar Washington
• Essex County Prosecutor’s Detectives Rashaan Johnson and Phillip Read for “the capture of two armed suspects”

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