NYPD cop meets officers who rescued her from burning car nearly 30 years ago

Toddler saved by NYPD officers joins the force

Twenty-seven years after a pair of toddlers were rescued from a burning car in Harlem, one of those young survivors got to meet the two officers who saved her life, because she herself has grown up to become a NYPD officer. FOX 5 NY's Ashlie Rodriguez has the emotional reunion.

NEW YORK - Nearly three decades ago, two NYPD officers pulled a mother and her two young children from inside a burning car, saving their lives.

On Friday, retired NYPD officers Eric Ocasio and Charles Claudio got to meet Denise Gomez, one of the children they rescued on that fateful day in 1996.

Gomez herself is grown up now and became a member of the NYPD in 2022, a realization that brought Officer Ocasio to tears.

"I never imagined in my life that I would meet her," Claudio said. "To me, it was just a job that we responded to, and we did what we had to do."

The rescue took place in East Harlem on East 116th Street in July 1996, when the two officers were on patrol and noticed a car with gasoline gushing from the bottom.

"The officers heard a poof!" said Officer Carlos Nieves, the NYPD Public Information Assistant Commissioner.

Rushing toward the car, they found a mother screaming hysterically with her two toddlers trapped inside as flames began to engulf the car.

The pair quickly broke the windows, pulling the family out to safety. No one was injured, but Claudio sprained his ankle, and Ocasio suffered smoke inhalation.

"The cops and the family astonished that the vehicle did not explode, fatally injuring them all, then watched from the sidewalk as firefighters put the vehicle's flames out," said Nieves.

"It’s emotional," Gomez said. "I finally get to meet them."

Gomez grew up with just one article about the rescue. That's where she saw Ocasio and Claudio's faces. Hearing and reading about the story served as motivation.

"I want to do what they did for me," Gomez said.

Both officers are now retired. But to everyone's surprise Friday, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, presented Gomez with Ocasio's same shield number.

"So, I know we did something right 30 years ago," Ocasio said. "Fast forward to today and her saying thank you for what you did, and I’m here because of what you did."

"To hear that she is part of the family and became an officer, is a privilege, it’s an honor," Claudio said.