Locals and police officers honored

Three 5th Precinct police officers, several locals and two officers killed in the line of duty were honored at an awards breakfast hosted by the St. Therese the Little Flower Council of the Knights of Columbus at Church of the Blessed Sacrament on April 24.

Officers Joseph Giacone, Daniel Reyes and Joseph Sikora were recognized for catching a burglary suspect in Valley Stream in September. The officers responded to a 911 call on Sept. 9 at 9:50 a.m. that reported two men entering the rear of a home in Valley Stream. Giacone spotted two men walking from behind the home and tried to detain them. One suspect ran away and the other fled in a vehicle. Giacone radioed a description of the vehicle and Reyes and Sikora saw it driving fast and recklessly before it crashed into a light pole on Central Avenue. The suspect tried to run but the officers chased and arrested him. A camera and jewelry were recovered and the man was charged with burglary.

Mayor Ed Fare, a Valley Stream Central High School District teacher, was named Teacher of the Year. James Cunningham, who joined the Knights of Columbus in 1961, received the Grand Knights award, and member Richie Fox was named Knight of the Year.

Also honored was Anthony Venditti, an NYPD detective who was shot to death at a Queens restaurant on Jan. 21, 1986 while he was on an organized crime stakeout. His partner was wounded in the attack. Three men were arrested and charged for the shooting, one of them a reputed member of the Genovese crime family. They were acquitted, but later sent to prison on racketeering charges. Venditti’s mother, Anna, attended the breakfast.

Also in attendance was Vivian Scarangella, of Valley Stream, whose husband John was an NYPD officer who was shot during a traffic stop in April 1981. He died two weeks later. A street in Queens was named for him after his death.

Fare used the occasion to proclaim April 24 Phillip Cardillo Day in memory of an NYPD officer who was shot on April 14, 1972 while responding to a call at a mosque in Harlem. He died a week later.