Man Becomes Perth Amboy Officer After His Life Is Saved By A Cop

PERTH AMBOY, NJ — The newest member of the Perth Amboy police department has a unique connection to the force: When he was a toddler, his life was saved by a young Perth Amboy police officer.

In fact, Leonel Tejera, 31, will wear the badge number of the police officer, Kenneth Puccio, who saved his life nearly 30 years ago. At the swearing-in service this past Wednesday, Puccio, long since retired, pinned his old badge, No. 111, on Tejera.

The incident happened on May 14, 1989. Tejera was a 2-year-old toddler in the city of Perth Amboy. It was 10:30 p.m. and Puccio, who had been on the force for about five years, was on patrol on Amboy Avenue that evening.

“As an officer you never know what to expect every day," Puccio recalled. "My job that day was routine. I was catching up on my reporting and the next thing I know a car pulls up behind me and a desperate mother screams, 'My baby isn’t breathing!'"

The toddler boy was unresponsive. His mother, Carmen Morales, was wildly driving the car down Amboy Avenue and when she saw the squad car, she stopped and ran towards it, frantically waving her arms.

"She was very upset, screaming, yelling," Puccio told MyCentralJersey.com.

Fortunately, Puccio, like all police officers, had been trained in CPR: He took the baby, and began performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. According to the news article, it only took three or four puffs of air before the toddler boy was able to breathe on his own.

Puccio never put the baby down, and had the mom drive his squad car to the nearest hospital, where the baby was rushed into the ER. It remains unclear why Tejera stopped breathing that day.

The whole thing happened so quickly that Puccio said he never even got a chance to put it out on his police radio.

Morales sent Puccio a note thanking him, and Puccio was honored in a ceremony at Perth Amboy City Hall, pictured above.

The story doesn't end there. Puccio stayed in touch with the boy throughout his whole upbringing: As a coincidence, when Tejera entered kindergarten, he became friends with Puccio's son, as both boys attended the Perth Amboy Catholic school system.

As an even bigger coincidence, Tejera was in Puccio's DARE class as a pre-teen. It was then that Tejera said he became inspired to become a police officer, like the man who saved him.

So when adolescent Tejera enrolled in Port Amboy police department's Junior Police Academy, yet again his mentor — and lifesaver — Officer Puccio was there working as a teacher.

"From there on out, I was in touch with Lionel throughout his upbringing," said Puccio. "He credits me for his dream of becoming a police officer."

“Every challenge that I faced he was there for me,” Tejera told MyCentralJersey. “Throughout my whole life he has been there for me, giving me wisdom and encouragement. He never gave up on me.”

Puccio retired in 2013. But he recalls that what transpired within just a few minutes that night in May was the highlight of his policing career.

"He credits me for his dream of becoming a police officer," he said. "At the end of the day, it’s very humbling.”

All photos provided to Patch by the city of Perth Amboy.