Long Island Cop Who 'Beat The Odds' Back At Work After Stabbing

PATCHOGUE, NY — A hero Long Island police officer who was stabbed in the leg as he struggled with a drunken driving suspect back in April has returned from sick leave.

Det. Christopher Racioppo, who was promoted in August, recently took up his new post with the Suffolk Police Department's Criminal Intelligence Bureau at police headquarters in Yaphank on Oct. 4.

On its official Facebook page, the department described Racioppo's return as following "a long road to recovery," in which he "beat the odds."

Six months ago, Racioppo was stabbed in the leg — the knife severing his femoral artery — while attempting to arrest a man for DWI following a crash in Patchogue, and he was saved by "the quick thinking of fellow officers and good Samaritans on the scene," police said.

He needed emergency surgery to save his life at Stony Brook University Medical Center, and police said that "ultimately," doctors had to replace "almost all" of his blood. He then faced months of "strenuous rehab," police said.

"Racioppo’s determination and hard work is an inspiration to us all," the department's Facebook post read.

He was welcomed back Oct. 14 by Acting Commissioner Stuart Cameron and Deputy Inspector Vincent Maronski who visited him in his new office in the Real Time Crime Center.

Racioppo was stabbed April 10 by 25-year-old Jonathan Nunez, who ran away after he crashed his car on South Ocean Avenue and began fighting with him, police said, adding that Nunez stabbed Racioppo as he was trying to arrest him.

Newsday has reported that Nunez continued to be violent during his arrest, and kicked another officer in the eye and struggled with EMTs who were taking him to the hospital.

He was charged with aggravated assault upon a police officer, DWI., and resisting arrest, police said.

He pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be held without bail, Newsday reported.