A New York City off-duty police officer who worked to rescue seven members of his family during Hurricane Sandy’s peak hours, died shortly after saving them, a statement from the New York Police Department said.
Police Officer Artur Kasprzak, 28, had made several trips to get his loved ones – six adults and a 15-month-old boy into the attic of his home on Staten Island and away from the rapidly rising waters. Then Officer Kasprzak told one of the woman he was going to check the basement and would be right back.
But Kasprzak didn’t return and the woman called 911 to report him missing.
NYPD Emergency Service and SCUBA units came to the home but were unable to undertake a search of the home for Kasprzak due to downed electrified power lines in the water.
On Tuesday morning around 7:00 a.m., when it was safe to enter the house, Officer Kasprzak’s body was located, unconscious and unresponsive in the basement. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officer Kasprzak was a six-year veteran of the NYPD.
