- Joined
- Oct 6, 2010
- Messages
- 47
Michael Frey was an Eastchester N.Y. Police Officer, gunned down in the line of duty on March 21st 1996. I was going to post this on a Westchester forum that Truck 4 knows very well, but the nonsense and outright hostility is making it impossible to continue posting there; I hope the Brothers on this site will understand; this is the only other site I'm a member of.
The NYC connection for Mike is that he was a Transit cop before transferring up to Eastchester, his home town.
Ironically, he did so to "escape" the madness that the Transit System could be at times; Mike was stabbed in the neck by an EDP, and that became a driving force for him to seek the job back home in Westchester County.
From '83 to '86 I worked in the garage of the EPD. I forget exactly when Mike showed up, but what a character he was. He really had a great sense of humor, the timing of his wit was always perfect. An Irish-American comical guy, with a heart of gold.
The PD's at the time were using Plymouth Gran Furys. Wouldn't you know, Mike had bought a red one at an auction in NYC; looked like a beat up used Fire Marshall's vehicle. Occasionally I found myself in Mike's company in his "ghetto car", and we'd hit the Bronx taverns like the Terminal Bar until the wee hours.
He was an avid Jets fan, lived in a nice apartment in Yonkers, met the woman he would fall in love with and marry; a charmed existence, and he knew it. You could tell because he had a sparkle in his eyes, a man who enjoyed every day of his life.
Tragically, it came to end that day when a demented kid who was scheduled to be booked into Rykers Island, I think for a parole violation, dialed 911 and asked for help at his residence. Mike in the 43 RMP responded and never had a chance to get out of the car. The perp shot him from a second floor window with a high powered rifle, and as bad luck would have it, the bullet pierced the webbing of the BPV on the side of Mike's torso.
That began a stand-off, shoot out, with other Eastchester cops pinned down by the relentless assault this murderer rained down on them with numerous weapons. Many LE personnel live in Eastchester; word spread quickly and many converged on the scene to try and help out.
By this time I was working at the Eastchester Fire Department, and that day was on Engine 28 when the tones went out for E27 to respond on a medical run; "officer down" was how Glenn Conkling, our dispatcher worded it. Eventually I wound up relocating to HQ where I could hear the shots from around the corner on Morgan Street.
One of the men who responded to the scene that day was Ron Bucca, the "Flying Fireman" from Rescue 1, who was a local resident, had become an FDNY Fire Marshal, Green Beret, our hometown hero of 9/11.
The NYPD ESU eventually responded with an armored vehicle to recover Mike, and rescue the other pinned officers. The murderer killed his grandmother then himself.
Mike's funeral took place at Immaculate Conception Church, where he had attended school, been Confirmed, been an Altar boy, and had been married. 10,000 Brothers and Sisters from Law Enforcement and the Fire Service attended the funeral.
Eastchester lost it's innocence that day, and would never feel the same ever again.
15 years later, the great memories of Mike, and the horror of Eastchester's worst day are not forgotten, and never will be.
The NYC connection for Mike is that he was a Transit cop before transferring up to Eastchester, his home town.
Ironically, he did so to "escape" the madness that the Transit System could be at times; Mike was stabbed in the neck by an EDP, and that became a driving force for him to seek the job back home in Westchester County.
From '83 to '86 I worked in the garage of the EPD. I forget exactly when Mike showed up, but what a character he was. He really had a great sense of humor, the timing of his wit was always perfect. An Irish-American comical guy, with a heart of gold.
The PD's at the time were using Plymouth Gran Furys. Wouldn't you know, Mike had bought a red one at an auction in NYC; looked like a beat up used Fire Marshall's vehicle. Occasionally I found myself in Mike's company in his "ghetto car", and we'd hit the Bronx taverns like the Terminal Bar until the wee hours.
He was an avid Jets fan, lived in a nice apartment in Yonkers, met the woman he would fall in love with and marry; a charmed existence, and he knew it. You could tell because he had a sparkle in his eyes, a man who enjoyed every day of his life.
Tragically, it came to end that day when a demented kid who was scheduled to be booked into Rykers Island, I think for a parole violation, dialed 911 and asked for help at his residence. Mike in the 43 RMP responded and never had a chance to get out of the car. The perp shot him from a second floor window with a high powered rifle, and as bad luck would have it, the bullet pierced the webbing of the BPV on the side of Mike's torso.
That began a stand-off, shoot out, with other Eastchester cops pinned down by the relentless assault this murderer rained down on them with numerous weapons. Many LE personnel live in Eastchester; word spread quickly and many converged on the scene to try and help out.
By this time I was working at the Eastchester Fire Department, and that day was on Engine 28 when the tones went out for E27 to respond on a medical run; "officer down" was how Glenn Conkling, our dispatcher worded it. Eventually I wound up relocating to HQ where I could hear the shots from around the corner on Morgan Street.
One of the men who responded to the scene that day was Ron Bucca, the "Flying Fireman" from Rescue 1, who was a local resident, had become an FDNY Fire Marshal, Green Beret, our hometown hero of 9/11.
The NYPD ESU eventually responded with an armored vehicle to recover Mike, and rescue the other pinned officers. The murderer killed his grandmother then himself.
Mike's funeral took place at Immaculate Conception Church, where he had attended school, been Confirmed, been an Altar boy, and had been married. 10,000 Brothers and Sisters from Law Enforcement and the Fire Service attended the funeral.
Eastchester lost it's innocence that day, and would never feel the same ever again.
15 years later, the great memories of Mike, and the horror of Eastchester's worst day are not forgotten, and never will be.
