The Orangetown Police Department and the former Nyack Village Police Department have lost four officers in the line of duty, and more unfortunately, they were lost two at a time.
Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
Orangetown Police Department – August 2, 1973
On Thursday, August 2, 1973, 51 years ago today, Patrolman Michael Reedy and Patrolman Thomas Kennedy were stuck and killed by a vehicle while directing traffic at an accident scene on Route 303.
Patrolmen Reedy and Kennedy, and other emergency personnel, were at the scene of a serious accident on State Route 303 in the Hamlet of Blauvelt. The accident scene was closed off and well-lit by flares and emergency lights of Police, Fire and Ambulance vehicles. A drunk driver coming north at a high rate of speed passed the flares, drove over the fire hoses and struck Officer Reedy and Officer Kennedy who were standing together in the roadway.
Officer Reedy had served with the agency for four years. Officer Kennedy had been with the agency for only six months.
Nyack Village Police Department – October 20, 1981
Always Remember – At 4 p.m. Oct. 20, 1981, six men armed with high-powered weapons jumped from the rear of a U-Haul truck and fatally shot Sgt. Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly “Chipper” Brown. Nyack Detective Arthur Keenan was wounded and Officer Brian Lennon was injured.
Less than 30 minutes before the roadblock slayings, the gunmen killed Brinks guard Peter Paige and seriously wounded guard Joseph Trombino at the Nanuet Mall during the robbery of $1.6 million.
Sergeant Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly Brown were shot and killed by heavily armed members of a domestic terrorist group, the Weather Underground, who had just robbed a bank and were attempting to escape. The suspects had just murdered an armored car guard and wounded two other guards before loading themselves into the back of a rental truck to be driven away by accomplices. The truck was stopped at a roadblock manned by several Nyack officers.
One of the female occupants in the cab of the truck told the officers their guns were making her nervous. Thinking they had stopped the wrong truck, the officers began to holster their weapons. Almost immediately afterwards several of the heavily armed men exited the back of the truck and opened fire with automatic weapons. Officer Brown was immediately shot and fell to the ground, apparently dead, but an execution shot to the head while he was lying on the ground, made sure. A gunfight erupted and Sergeant O’Grady was executed while trying to reload his 6 shot revolver behind a police vehicle, subsequently dying of his wounds. Nyack Police Detective Arthur Keenan was also wounded in the exchange of gunfire. Officer Brian Lennon was unhurt despite his patrol car being riddled with M-16 bullets, but was trapped and unable to exit his vehicle because of Sergeant O’Grady’s dying body slumped against the driver’s door. Sergeant O’Grady was a 12 year veteran of the Nyack Police Department. Officer Brown was a 15 year veteran of the Nyack Police Department.
The suspects fled the scene in different directions but seven men and three women were eventually apprehended and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The female occupant in the truck was convicted in 1983 at age 33 for her actions in the murders which brought her 75 years to life in prison — a sentence commuted to 37 years to life by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December 2016, allowing her to seek parole. She was granted parole in June of 2019. One of the women was paroled in August 2003. Another woman was released July 15, 2010, and died of cancer a month later. One of the men died in prison December 13, 1986.
A suspect convicted of killing Police Officer John G. Scarangella of the New York City Police Department, was a prime suspect in the murders of Sergeant O’Grady and Officer Brown. When he was arrested for the murder of Officer Scarangella, he was in possession of a gun linked to the murders of Sergeant O’Grady and Officer Brown. That suspect was never charged in these murders.
A suspect in the killing was placed on FBI 10 most wanted in 1982 for helping his sister – an accomplice in the New Jersey State killings – escaped from prison in 1979. The suspect was captured in 1986.
Sergeant O’Grady was a Vietnam War veteran. He is survived by his wife and three children. He is buried in Saint Anthony’s Church Cemetery, Nanuet, Rockland County, New York.
Officer Brown was an Airforce Veteran, had been employed with the Nyack Police Department for 15 years and is survived by his mother and three children. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Nyack, Rockland County, New York.
The Weather Underground was also connected to the Black Liberation Army, which was responsible for the murders of at least one dozen other police officers throughout the country. The Weather Underground is believed responsible for the unsolved bombing murder of San Francisco, California, Police Department Sergeant Brian McDonnell on February 16, 1970.
The Black Liberation Army was a violent, radical group that attempted to fight for independence from the United States government in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The BLA was responsible for the murders of more than 10 police officers around the country. They were also responsible for violent attacks around the country that left many police officers wounded.
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