D.A. investigator contracts illness after drug raids.
The Journal News     22 Dec 2006

A senior narcotics investigator with the Westchester District Attorney's Office is in critical condition from a mysterious illness he might have contracted during recent heroin raids in Hartsdale, a source familiar with the situation said. Stuart Cohen, 38, fell ill with flu-like symptoms days after he and fellow investigators raided a drug "stash house" in an operation that yielded $6 million in heroin said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter. Cohen, a married father of two children, is in critical but stable condition in the intensive-care unit at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. He was transferred there from Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville where doctors have inquired whether his sickness was related to a series of drug raids he carried out in late November and early December, the source said. As senior investigator with the District Attorney's Narcotics Initiative, he helped lead two raids at 25 Lytton Ave. in Hartsdale. The first, on November 27, resulted in eight arrests and the seizure of $1 million worth of heroin as, authorities said, several police agencies broke up a narcotics operation being run out of the house. They searched the home that day and recovered heroin along with boxes containing implements used to mix, cut and grind the drug. The eight New York City men who were arrested are accused of using 25 Lytton as a stash house. During a follow-up raid there, investigators discovered an elaborately disguised "floor trap" in a bedroom closet, where they seized 15 pounds of heroin - one of the largest heroin busts in Westchester history. Cohen started suffering stomach and chest pains shortly after that operation. Last week he was admitted to Lawrence Hospital Center, where he was in critical condition, a spokeswoman said. On Monday night a chain of police cars escorted Cohen's ambulance to New York-Presbyterian, where he remained last night. Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office, refused to discuss the matter.

Westchester narcotics investigator is still in intensive care.
The Journal News     11 Mar 2007

A senior narcotics investigator who fell ill shortly after a drug raid in November remains in intensive care - and doctors still don't know whether he contracted the sickness during the raid. Stuart Cohen, 38, remains hospitalized at an undisclosed location and is in a semiconscious state, said Roger Bock, vice president of the Westchester County District Attorney Investigators Union. "He's still very sick," Bock said yesterday. "There hasn't been any real improvement. The doctors have not diagnosed the cause." Cohen, a married father of two, led two raids of a heroin stash house at 25 Lytton Ave. in Hartsdale in late November. The operation yielded $6 million in heroin and resulted in eight arrests and the seizure of heroin, along with boxes containing implements to mix, cut and grind the drug. Investigators also discovered an elaborately disguised "floor trap" in a bedroom closet, where they seized 15 pounds of heroin - one of the largest heroin busts in Westchester history. It was shortly after the first search that Cohen started suffering headaches, then stomach and chest pains, authorities have said. In mid-December, he was admitted to Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, where doctors began inquiring whether his sickness was related to the drug search. He was later transferred to other hospitals. A Westchester hazardous materials team tested the house in late December, but no findings have been announced. Bock said his union is planning to hold a fundraiser to help Cohen and his family with medical and other costs that are not covered by insurance. No date has been set.

Thousands attend funeral for beloved Westchester narcotics officer.
The Journal News     12 Apr 2007

Greenburgh Police Officer Dan Massett told mourners yesterday that he couldn't think of what to write the previous night as he prepared a speech for the funeral of his lifelong friend, Stuart Cohen. Then, Massett recalled, his 3-year-old son walked into the room. Trying to explain what Cohen meant to him, in words his child could understand, two words came to mind. "Laughter and love," he said. "Stu embodied those two words." Those words were a central theme to yesterday's funeral as loved ones paid tribute to Cohen, a 38-year-old senior investigator for the Westchester District Attorney's Office who died from a mysterious ailment that officials say he contracted during a drug raid. In a show of respect, thousands of police and firefighters from throughout the region, wearing dress uniforms, lined the road outside the Riverside Memorial Chapel yesterday morning. Inside, Cohen's wife Gina, two young daughters Hayley and Sydney, parents Joseph and Judy, other relatives, friends and colleagues gathered before his flag-draped casket for the service. Cohen died Sunday at St. Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, having spent four months hospitalized following two raids of a heroin stash house in Hartsdale. He led the raids, which resulted in eight arrests and one of the largest heroin seizures in Westchester history. Union officials said he died "in the line of duty."  Cohen's father praised his son's efforts. "He was a soldier in the fight against crime and he paid the supreme price for it. If you want to honor Stu, honor these (officers) who make life safer for all of us." Rabbi Ed Schecter of Temple Beth Shalom in Hastings-on-Hudson delivered the eulogy as chaplain for the Hastings police and fire departments, where Cohen once served. "Stuart had a joy for living, a sense of humor, a sense of decency and integrity," said Schecter, "And sprinkled over this was a sense of mischief." Schecter joked that Cohen never attended Hebrew school because "he really could never sit still." He got laughs when he told the story of how Cohen, who lived near Beth Shalom, would park his police cruiser in the synagogue lot nightly and try to persuade the rabbi to allow this by saying, "It will be great for temple security." Cohen was a volunteer Hastings firefighter and a karate instructor. He worked for the Hastings and Metro-North police departments before joining the District Attorney's Office. District Attorney Janet DiFiore, speaking at the service, said Cohen worked tirelessly at his job. She recalled a major drug bust that resulted from his cultivating an informant and aggressively pursuing the case at all hours, making calls from home at night and also when he was on vacation in Florida. "That was Stu, always working hard to advance his case," she said. "Stu did the job he loved," she said, adding that his "honesty, integrity and enthusiasm will live on as an example for every one of us to follow in our personal and professional lives." Investigator Juan Rodriguez, who was one of the pallbearers, started out by reciting the Hebrew saying, "For love is stronger than death." Rodriguez said Cohen was the one who "showed me the ropes" when he joined the county force. "Right away he started cracking jokes, and I knew he was the joker," he said, and recalled their eight years together with the department. "When you remember Stu, do it with your laughter because that's the way he would have wanted it." Cohen's family expressed gratitude to the people who have supported the family. Massett, during his closing remarks, said this would continue. "Stu, I want you to know that our love for you will extend to your family," he said. "We'll always be there to take care of your wife and children." After the service, 10 pallbearers, all members of the district attorney's narcotics initiative, carried Cohen's wooden casket to a waiting hearse, passing rows of officers who stood at attention as the Police Emerald Society of Westchester played "Going Home" on pipes and drums. Cohen was later buried in Mount Hope Cemetery on Jackson Avenue in Hastings-on-Hudson.

Investigator who died after drug raid named Westchester's officer of year.
The Journal News     8 June 2007

Stuart Cohen, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office senior investigator who died from an illness that officials say he contracted during a drug raid, has been posthumously named the county's officer of the year. Cohen's parents accepted a plaque from the county police chiefs association during a ceremony Wednesday at Luciano's Italian Restaurant in Yonkers. District Attorney Janet DiFiore, who was chief of narcotics when Cohen was hired by her office in the 1990s, joined the fallen officer's widow and dozens of law enforcement officers for the event. "Stu Cohen was a very brave and honorable police officer," DiFiore said yesterday. "He was one of the best police officers I ever worked with. He was tenacious and never gave up. He was very honest and ethical. He also had a big, bouncy, very pleasant and pleasing personality." Cohen, a married father of two, died April 8 at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston NJ, having spent four months hospitalized after two raids of a heroin stash house in Hartsdale. He led the raids, which resulted in eight arrests and one of the largest heroin seizures in county history. Cohen, 38, was also a volunteer Hastings-on-Hudson firefighter and a karate instructor. He worked for the Hastings and Metro-North police departments before joining the District Attorney's Office.

Defendant sentenced in Hartsdale heroin bust alleged to have sickened investigator.
The Journal News     6 Oct 2007

One of the eight defendants in last year's Hartsdale heroin bust was sentenced yesterday to time served after pleading guilty to a reduced charge. Adalgisa Baez, 46, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree and was released after serving seven months in prison, according to her attorney, Carlos Gonzalez. Baez was the girlfriend of one of the men arrested in the 2006 raid, one of of the largest heroin seizures in Westchester history. Police seized $1 million worth of heroin from the stash house at 25 Lytton Ave. Five of those arrested have pleaded guilty and are serving time in state prison, according to the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Cases for the other two defendants are pending. The case gained additional attention after Stuart Cohen, the senior investigator for the District Attorney's Office, died from an illness that his family and union officials said he contracted during the drug raid. Cohen became ill a few days after the raid and spent four months in the hospital before he died. No formal determination has been made on what caused his illness. Cohen led the raids in late November and early December, the result of a joint investigation by county police, the District Attorney's Office, New York City police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
New York City police arrested one man who left the house and went to the Bronx, where officers recovered two boxes containing about 60,000 glassines of heroin. Seven other individuals were arrested after making a hasty exit from the Hartsdale house, driving off in a minivan that was stopped by Westchester County police. Police then used a warrant to search the house, where another ounce of heroin was found. Police said one bedroom was dedicated for the packaging of the drug. Police found boxes that had contained thousands of empty glassine envelopes, 10 respirator masks, cutting tools and over 20 cylinders used to mix, cut and grind heroin. The home also had a security system that included cameras.

Westchester DA investigator added to statue honoring fallen police.
The Journal News     21 Apr 2010

Stuart Cohen, the Westchester District Attorney's Office senior investigator who died from an illness he contracted during a drug raid, will be honored Thursday with a dedication outside the county courthouse. An 11 a.m. ceremony will mark his name being added to a statue honoring fallen police officers. District Attorney Janet DiFiore and Cohen's father will be among those making remarks at the event in front of 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. "This is a dedication to Stuart's memory," said Joe Cohen, his father. "I'm very proud and honored that I had such a son who made his career in law enforcement, putting himself on the firing line with all the others to protect and serve us well." April 8 was the third anniversary of Cohen's death. Cohen, 38, a married father of two from Hastings-on-Hudson, had spent four months hospitalized after two raids of a heroin stash house in Hartsdale. He led the raids, which resulted in eight arrests and one of the largest heroin seizures in county history. He worked for the Hastings and Metro-North police departments before joining the District Attorney's office in the 1990s. 

Hartsdale stash house

Section 32 Lot 360 Grave 1

No autopsy was performed on Stuart Cohen. He was given disability benefits from the PBA while he was alive. After he died Gina applied for his state retirement benefits due to his purported work related disability caused by accidental circumstances and was denied. The State Supreme Court Appellate Division heard her appeal and denied it based on their determination that his death was not due to an accident and that he did nothing outside of the ordinary duties of the job. 

The scene of the crime with the moped in the foreground

Located in Fulton Park on Maple Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson NY

Unit 6 Tier CC Crypt 12

On his last day as a beat cop (originally scheduled for crowd control duty at Radio City Music Hall during a Menudo concert on that final shift, he swapped assignments with another pair of patrolmen) before being transferred to desk detail with the NYPD Management and Information System at One Police Plaza, Police Officer Thomas Patrick Ruotolo, 30, was shot and killed on Tuesday February 14, 1984 after he and his partner PO Tanya Brathwaite, 23, approached George Agosto, 24, for suspicion of possession of a stolen moped. On patrol when hearing the radio report, they stopped at the corner of 149th Street and Bruckner Avenue in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx at approximately 6:40 p.m., observing the suspect filling up the moped at the Power Test gas station. Officer Ruotolo pulled his patrol car up behind the suspect and both he and Officer Brathwaite exited the vehicle. Before either said a word to the suspect, Agosto drew a snub nosed revolver and opened fire, striking Officer Ruotolo in the head. His partner fired a shot at Agosto before falling to the ground with a bullet wound to the back. Off-duty PO Hippolito Padilla, 38, who was nearby using a pay phone when the shooting started, also fired five shots at Agosto and was shot once in the abdomen. The three officers were taken to Lincoln Hospital, where Office Ruotolo was pronounced dead. Officers Brathwaite and Padilla both recovered from their wounds. Agosto fled the scene,  but was later arrested at the same hospital where he dropped off by car for treatment of gunshot wounds to the head, right hand and chest. On March 26, 1979 Agosto was sentenced to a term of from 5 to 15 years for manslaughter. After receiving credit for time served under a prior youthful offender adjudication, he became eligible for parole and was released on August 23, 1982. Agosto was assigned and reported to the Bronx West Parole Office until July 5, 1983 when he was taken into custody by the police and charged with burglary and resisting arrest. Although his parole officers were notified of these events, they failed to report the violations to the Parole Board, which if notified should have revoked his parole. Agosto pled guilty to one charge of first degree murder and two charges of first degree attempted murder. He was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison and is not eligible for parole until January 2024. Officer Ruotolo had been a member of the New York City Police Department for three years and was assigned to the Simpson Street station house of the 41st Precinct, otherwise known as Fort Apache. He was survived by his wife Mary Beth; his parents Patsy and Catherine; his brothers Nicholas and Paul; and his sister Mary. A memorial service was conducted Saturday by Monsignor Gerard Green, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Dobbs Ferry NY, where Officer Ruotolo was a life long resident. His remains were interred in the Shrine of Memories Mausoleum at Ferncliff Cemetery on Secor Road, Hartsdale NY. On June 11, 1985 Officer Ruotolo was posthumously awarded the NYPD Medal of Honor. On February 14, 2019 the Ruotolo family and the NYPD held a mass in his honor in St. Athanasius Church at 878 Tiffany Street. After the service, the corner at Southern Boulevard and Intervale Avenue was named after Officer Ruotolo.