109th Precinct Community Council recognizes fi ve
police offi cers with ‘Cop of the Month’ awards
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
During its first virtual
meeting of the year on
Wednesday, Feb. 10, the 109th
Precinct Community Council
presented ‘Cop of the Month’
awards to five police officers
for their heroic actions to
help save citizens.
Captain John O’Connell,
the new commanding officer
of the 109th Precinct, awarded
Police Officers Kayla
O’Leary, Bryan Tenny, Cara
Scriven, Andy Peralta and
Connor Boesch.
O’Leary received the ‘Cop
of the Month’ award for December
and January, after
she helped give medical assistance
to a victim who was assaulted
on Dec. 20, and saved
a young woman’s life in a domestic
dispute on Jan. 25.
109th Precinct Police Officer
Kaya O’Leary. (Photo via
109th Precinct Community
Council/Facebook)
While O’Leary was driving
home that night on Dec.
20 after finishing her tour,
she came to a red light and
observed two men fighting.
One of the men pulled out a
knife and stabbed the victim,
according to O’Connell.
Without hesitation,
O’Leary quickly got out of her
car and drew her weapon ordering
the individual to stop,
who then fled the scene. Afterwards,
O’Leary had called
911 providing a brief description
of the suspect, while assisting
the victim who was
injured.
The 109th Precinct’s responding
unit had located
the suspect and apprehended
him, O’Connell said.
“I’m so proud of her for
jumping into action, by herself,”
O’Connell said. “Who
does that? A part of me worries
about my cops when they
do something like that, but I
couldn’t be more proud of her
for her bravery and heroic
act to save someone’s life. I’m
proud of her professionalism
and we are very happy that
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.4 COM | FEB. 19-FEB. 25, 2021
she’s our December 2020 Cop
of the Month.”
In another incident
that took place on Jan. 25,
O’Leary, Tenny, Scriven, Peralta
and Boesch, responded to
a domestic assault call. The
officers had entered an apartment
and found a man holding
a lifeless young woman in
a chokehold.
According to O’Connell, domestic
assault calls are considered
the worst job for a police
officer given the emotion, tension
and confusion that is very
hard to assess in those situations.
“It really takes all of the talent
of a police officer to do their
best when they respond to a job
like that,” O’Connell said. “The
109th Precinct is enormous
and the amount of time it takes
us to get from job to job can be
frustrating, but man, did they
do a good job getting to them.”
The police officers quickly
ripped the man off of the young
woman and started giving her
CPR for three to four minutes,
bringing her back to life. According
to O’Connell, the man
was threatening to blow up
the place. He was arrested for
attempted murder.
“The EMS responded and
brought the young lady to the
hospital who made a full recovery,”
O’Connell said. “With
their response, professionalism,
communication and
CPR techniques, they literally
brought this woman back to
life.”
According to O’Connell,
the police officers don’t get the
credit they deserve.
“It’s just amazing and heroic.
I’m just so proud of them,”
said O’Connell, as he became
emotional expressing gratitude
to the police officers.
(From l. to r.) 109th Precinct Police Officers Bryan Tenny, Kayla
O’Leary, Captain John O’Connell, Connor Boesch, Andy Peralta and
Cara Scriven. Photo via 109th Precinct Community Council/Facebook
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