Woodbridge Police Officers Honored For Life-Saving Rescues In January

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — At the most recent Woodbridge Council meeting, held this past Tuesday night, Feb. 21, multiple Woodbridge police officers were honored for life-saving rescues they made in the month of January.

Here are their stories:

Shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, Woodbridge Police were called for a serious car accident in the parking lot of the Home Depot on Rt. 9 south. A 2013 Lincoln MKS had run off the road, crashed in the parking lot and came to rest on top of Home Depot merchandise and equipment.

The Lincoln was fully engulfed in flames and there was a man, who appeared to be unconscious inside. The officers who responded reached into the burning car — risking injury to themselves — unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled him to safety. All ten of those responding Woodbridge police officers needed treatment for smoke inhalation that night, with eight having to be taken to a hospital.

The man was not breathing and had no pulse when he was outside the car. The officers started giving him CPR and Sgt. Tomasz Kowalewski, incident command, suspected the man had overdosed on drugs. He made the decision to administer one dose of Narcan, and the man was fully revived.

"The gentleman woke up and he didn't even realize what had happened," said the police sergeant, as he was thanked by the town Tuesday night. "In the 15 years of my career here, I've never seen anything like it. The officers risked their life; we didn't even know there was someone in the car. There was such heavy black smoke; you couldn't see anything. We used a 2x4 to smash the window and immediately did CPR. It was one of the scariest scenes I've ever seen."

The driver, a 28-year-old man from Monroe, was hospitalized, placed under arrest and issued summonses for DWI and recklessness. Woodbridge Police also found an empty wax fold, commonly used for packaging heroin, inside his wallet.

The other officers honored (and who suffered smoke inhalation) in that Jan. 13 rescue were: Officer Randall Bisset, Officer Jake Fasano, Officer Adam Romatowski, Officer Owen Sharkey, Officer Khari Manzin, Officer Neil Garrett, Officer Zachary Manente, Officer Edward Parfitt, Officer Jeffrey Hoffman, Officer Edward Caroselli, Officer Stephen Sexton and Officer Jason Hernandez-Genao.

Read the initial Patch story of this incident: Suspected Heroin Overdose Led To Crash Into Woodbridge Home Depot

On Jan. 26, police officers Stephanie Lage and Michael Carroll were called to a home in the Iselin section, where a 77-year-old man was unconscious, not breathing and had no pulse. The officers suspected he was in cardiac arrest. They started doing chest compressions and administered one single shock from the AED device they had with them. The man's pulse was regained and he started breathing again. He was taken to a hospital, where he has made a full recovery.

"Once again, Woodbridge police officers saving lives," said Mayor John McCormac.

"One of the best part about this job is being able to do things like this," said Officer Callen.

And finally, at 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, Officer Orlando Faria was dispatched to the Main Street/NJ Turnpike overpass in Fords for a call of a man walking towards the overpass who appeared suicidal. When Ferria got there, the man had already climbed through an opening in the fence over the Turnpike below. The officer immediately engaged him in conversation, then grabbed the man and held against the fence until further help arrived.

All the officers were thanked by Mayor McCormac, the Woodbridge town Council and the Township.