Fast-Acting Fire Chief Thwarts Stabbing at Irvington Train Station

Irvington Fire Chief Chris DePaoli saved a woman’s life Wednesday night, but not by pulling her out of a burning building.

DePaoli stepped in-between a man stabbing the woman near the Irvington train station, and is being hailed as a hero by local authorities.

“I pulled over and got out of the car, I was going to get him off of her, then I realized she was being stabbed,” DePaoli told News 12 Westchester. He was driving by with his two daughters in the car. When he realized what was happening, he grabbed his daughter’s softball bat.

The assailant, who police say is the woman’s boyfriend, stabbed her several times before DePaoli was able to intervene. The man then walked away, and an off-duty Irvington police officer, who also was driving by, chased after the man who then slit his own throat. Another Irvington police officer used a taser to then subdue the man, reports The Journal News.

Both the assailant and the victim were hospitalized. Authorities have not realized their identities, but are said to be Mount Vernon and Yonkers residents, respectively.

“I thought, oh my god, I don’t want to get stabbed in front of my children,” DePaoli told News 12.

Irvington Police Chief Michael Cerone and MTA Inspector Joseph Martelli, Chief of Detectives, are scheduled to hold a press conference Thursday afternoon to release more details about the incident.

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