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New York Post
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Bomb-sniffing NYPD K-9s, handlers honored at French consulate for beefing up Paris Olympics security
It's nothing short of a grand prix. Four NYPD officers and their bomb-sniffing canine partners were honored for their service safeguarding the Paris Olympics at a ceremony at the French consulate in Manhattan Monday afternoon. Police Officers Rafael De La Cruz and Michael Fenimore and Detectives Nick Valez and Andrew Barron — and their hero dogs Davie, Gunner, Rico and Vito — received distinctive service awards at the Upper East Side delegation commemorating their service protecting last summer's international games. Advertisement 4 Michael Finamore and his dog Gunner (who passed away), Andrew Barron and his dog Vito, Nicholas Velez and his dog Rico and Rafael De La Cruz and his dog Davie received awards. James Messerschmidt The K-9 teams were tasked with patrolling the Paris Games' grounds and keeping a nose out for bombs, consulate reps said. 'The challenges were enormous in Paris last summer to ensure the safety of 15,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, and overall, 11 million spectators,' Consul General Céderik Fouriscot said to the officers. Advertisement 'The Paris game went off perfectly, and I want to say that you are an integral part of this success.' The massive undertaking to host the Olympics required French authorities to call on foreign law enforcement. 4 The K-9 teams were tasked with patrolling the Paris Games' grounds and keeping a nose out for bombs. Instagram/@k_9_gunner French authorities' liaison to the NYPD Police Commander Jean-François Meunier noted the host country 'asked especially for dogs because we didn't have enough dogs to cover all the Olympic sites.' Advertisement The NYPD officers and their dogs are specially trained to locate bombs, with K-9s assigned the critical duty of sniffing out chemicals associated with explosives. 'We take the odor and tie it to a toy, like a ball, and it's just repetition. The odor is just different chemical explosives,' said honoree Valez, 52, who has since retired from the force — as well as his K-9 Rico. 4 The massive undertaking to host the Olympics required French authorities to call on foreign law enforcement. James Messerschmidt Absent from the ceremony was Fenimore's dog, Gunner, who died in February. Advertisement Fenimore, who has since moved from the NYPD to the Clarkstown Police Department in Rockland County, said the loss of his four-legged friend deeply affected him. 'He was a perfectly healthy German Shepherd. Got blood cancer and was gone in three months. It's been brutal. He was my buddy for six years. He was the greatest dog. He was my life,' Fenimore said. 4 The NYPD officers and their dogs are specially trained to locate bombs. Instagram/@k_9_gunner Paris is one of five overseas posts the NYPD outsources assistance to, in addition to London, Madrid, INTERPOL and EUROPOL. 'It's operational exchange, information sharing. Share best practices and this is done on a daily basis,' Detective Nicolas Gouzien, the NYPD's liaison to Paris and Monaco said. 'This is a great inflection point in our relationship between NYPD and French law enforcement. This was an opportunity to showcase specialty capabilities that the NYPD has and the whole world was watching our canines protect the games in an incredibly complex threat environment,' Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner said. 'It was a tremendous honor and opportunity for the NYPD.'
New York Post
19-07-2025
- New York Post
Son of Sam 'didn't do it,' his pal tells shooting victim
A woman shot by 'Son of Sam' killer David Berkowitz nearly 60 years ago found herself in the crosshairs again this week when she was confronted by an acolyte of the serial killer who lectured her about the murderer's innocence. Wendy Savino was at Valley Cottage Library in Rockland County Wednesday when Frank DeGennaro — who became friends with the heartless killer 30 years ago — confronted her and insisted Berkowitz did not shoot her, she told The Post. 'As I'm walking out, there's a man just standing staring at me and he's rather in my way,' Savino, 88, recalled to The Post. Advertisement 8 Wendy Savino, 88, said she was confronted by a man who said he was David Berkowitz's friend at a library. J.C. Rice 8 Savino said the confrontation happened at the Valley Cottage Library when she went to pick up a book. Google Maps 'So I try to walk around him and he says, 'You're Wendy Savino, aren't you? Well I just want you to know David is very upset about what happened to you. David wants to talk to you.'' Advertisement ' 'David wants you to know he didn't do it,' ' she recalled him saying. Savino was shot three times as she sat in her brand new silver Jaguar XJS on April 9, 1976, in the Bronx. 8 NYPD detectives last year said Savino was one of Berkowitz's victims when she was shot in 1976. csuarez She played dead when she realized the killer was still outside, but was shot twice more in the back. Bleeding profusely, she crawled down a street and into a restaurant. Advertisement NYPD investigators determined last year that Savino was the first of the .44-caliber killer's victims — he killed six and wounded eight victims, most of them women — in a series of shocking crimes that paralyzed the Big Apple from 1976 to 1977. Berkowitz was never charged with shooting her because the statute of limitations had run out. 8 Wendy Savino, 88, was a mom of two young sons when she was shot five times while sitting in her Jaguar in the Bronx in 1976. J.C. Rice The mother-of-two sons lost an eye in the attack and went into hiding in England, where she is from. After listening to DeGennaro boast about his friendship with Berkowitz, the terrified but quick-thinking Savino asked the man to write his name down so she could share it with her son, she said. Advertisement She and her son, Jason Savino, immediately reported the incident to the Clarkstown Police Department, which took a report. The department didn't return a call seeking comment. 8 Frank DeGennaro said he's been friends with Berkowitz for 30 years and the two talk regularly. Getting Lumped Up/ Youtube 'He had me backed into a corner,' she said. 'He's just talking and talking about the same thing. 'David's a really good person.'' But DeGennaro, who said he got a call from the cops asking about the incident but wasn't charged, told The Post he wasn't trying to scare her. DeGennaro, a retired NYC school principal in the Bronx, became friends with the serial killer three decades ago after writing him a letter in prison, he said. 8 A new documentary about Berkowitz is coming out later this month. AP 'David is my friend,' he said, explaining that the two bonded over their Christian faith. DeGennaro said he lives in Clarkstown and goes to the library often. He was surpised to run into Savino, he said. He denied telling her that Berkowitz wanted to talk to her. Advertisement 'I realize now that it was probably the wrong thing to do, to even talk to her,' said DeGennaro, who was on a podcast days earlier voicing support for Berkowitz. 'This is getting blown out of proportion.' 8 Berkowitz, known as the 'Son of Sam' paralyzed the city during his killing spree. New York Post The confrontation erupted as Netflix prepares to release a new documentary about Berkowitz on July 30 called 'Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes' about a series of newly unearthed, recorded conversations with him. 8 Wendy Savino wasn't part of the NYPD's case against Berkowitz when he was arrested even though she told cops she thought he was the man who shot her. J.C. Rice Advertisement Berkowitz, 72, is serving 25 years to life in prison for six murders, and has been denied parole 12 times. Savino was shaken by this week's encounter. 'I'm very nervous,' she said. 'I was always afraid someone would come to me and say 'I'll finish you off for David.''
