Post by coots on Oct 20, 2011 0:28:09 GMT -5
NY DAILY NEWS
James Cheeseman, Hero NYPD Cop Who Collared Gun-Toting Fugitive in '50s, Dies at 79
James Cheeseman grew up amid the Great Depression as the oldest of five children.
10/19/11 - James Cheeseman, a retired NYPD detective from Brooklyn who got an award for collaring a desperate fugitive during a wild gun battle in Manhattan, has died. He was 79.
The life-long Bay Ridge resident served in the Navy during the Korean War. He joined the NYPD in 1956 after receiving an honorable discharge from the service.
In July of the following year, he was a 25-year-old patrolman on the upper West Side when a report of a robbery at a greasy spoon diner led him and a transit cop to trade shots with George (The Eel) Larned. The ex-con was wanted for shooting his way to freedom after cops swarmed a Long Island home he had burgled days earlier.
The Eel had the transit cop trapped near a parked car, while Cheeseman approached from the other side. The Eel fired twice. He missed. Cheeseman didn't.
"City Patrolman James Cheeseman dropped him at 104th St. and Amsterdam Ave. with a slug in the left wrist and another that pierced his back as he stooped behind a parked car," was how the Daily News reported the story.
His derring-do earned him a promotion to detective, an NYPD award and the Daily News' News Hero Award.
Cheeseman grew up amid the Great Depression as the oldest of five children. At the age of 7, he worked shining shoes to make extra money for the family.
He and his wife of 54 years, Mary Ann Grady, had four children. One son, Thomas Cheeseman, 44, remembered how his father liked to tell stories about his days working as an NYPD sleuth.
"He was a cop's cop," Cheeseman said, recalling how his father worked a tough case until it was solved. "My father wouldn't come home for three, four or five days at a time," the son recalled. "But he was always home on report-card day - unlucky for me!"
After his police career, James Cheeseman worked for 18 years as an investigator for a Brooklyn gas company. His favorite local haunt was Chadwick's Restaurant in Bay Ridge, where he and other retired cops swapped stories.
He died Oct. 10. In addition to his son Thomas and his wife, he is survived by his son John, daughters Marianne Rucano and Doreen Campiglia and brothers Dennis, William and Robert Cheeseman.
His funeral was Friday at St. Patrick Church in Bay Ridge. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn. The Coney Island Memorial Chapel handled the arrangement
Rest In peace
James Cheeseman, Hero NYPD Cop Who Collared Gun-Toting Fugitive in '50s, Dies at 79
James Cheeseman grew up amid the Great Depression as the oldest of five children.
10/19/11 - James Cheeseman, a retired NYPD detective from Brooklyn who got an award for collaring a desperate fugitive during a wild gun battle in Manhattan, has died. He was 79.
The life-long Bay Ridge resident served in the Navy during the Korean War. He joined the NYPD in 1956 after receiving an honorable discharge from the service.
In July of the following year, he was a 25-year-old patrolman on the upper West Side when a report of a robbery at a greasy spoon diner led him and a transit cop to trade shots with George (The Eel) Larned. The ex-con was wanted for shooting his way to freedom after cops swarmed a Long Island home he had burgled days earlier.
The Eel had the transit cop trapped near a parked car, while Cheeseman approached from the other side. The Eel fired twice. He missed. Cheeseman didn't.
"City Patrolman James Cheeseman dropped him at 104th St. and Amsterdam Ave. with a slug in the left wrist and another that pierced his back as he stooped behind a parked car," was how the Daily News reported the story.
His derring-do earned him a promotion to detective, an NYPD award and the Daily News' News Hero Award.
Cheeseman grew up amid the Great Depression as the oldest of five children. At the age of 7, he worked shining shoes to make extra money for the family.
He and his wife of 54 years, Mary Ann Grady, had four children. One son, Thomas Cheeseman, 44, remembered how his father liked to tell stories about his days working as an NYPD sleuth.
"He was a cop's cop," Cheeseman said, recalling how his father worked a tough case until it was solved. "My father wouldn't come home for three, four or five days at a time," the son recalled. "But he was always home on report-card day - unlucky for me!"
After his police career, James Cheeseman worked for 18 years as an investigator for a Brooklyn gas company. His favorite local haunt was Chadwick's Restaurant in Bay Ridge, where he and other retired cops swapped stories.
He died Oct. 10. In addition to his son Thomas and his wife, he is survived by his son John, daughters Marianne Rucano and Doreen Campiglia and brothers Dennis, William and Robert Cheeseman.
His funeral was Friday at St. Patrick Church in Bay Ridge. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn. The Coney Island Memorial Chapel handled the arrangement
Rest In peace
