Markeshia Ricks Photo
When Officer Jeffrey Suchy arrived at the corner of Sherman Avenue and Elm Street to respond to a robbery, John was flagging him down.
John had been robbed by two men while he was waiting for a bus. John had just finished up work at St. Raphael’s; the two men tried to get him to give them his phone, but John refused. They roughed him up a little and made off with his wallet.
“I observed that he was still on the phone, trying to tell whomever he was on the phone with what had happened,” Suchy said.
Suchy wouldn’t find out until weeks later that John had been on the phone with his parents, Fran and Mitch, who live in Scranton, Penn., while he waited for the police to arrive.
Suchy did not go on to make a dramatic arrest in this case. He didn’t take a killer off the street. As Fran and Mitch would later point out, Suchy did his job, and then a little extra — an example of the usually unnoticed ways that cops make a difference in people’s lives without making headlines.
Suchy said when he approached him, John was naturally upset. Suchy did his best to get John to focus. “I said, ‘You’ve got to focus on me buddy,’” Suchy said. “I want to catch these guys who robbed you.”
John gave Suchy the best description he could of the two men and what direction they had fled. They also talked a little about John’s work delivering newspapers at St. Raphael’s.
As the two men talked, Suchy said he started to suspect that John had “special needs.” When Suchy asked John where he lived, John said Chapel Haven. “I knew that Chapel Haven helps people with special needs,” he said.
Suchy, who is a husband and father of four, said he felt bad that “a couple of punks” had taken advantage of John. When his sergeant arrived on the scene he asked if it would be OK for him to give John a lift home to Chapel Haven. His sergeant gave the go-ahead, and off they went.
Suchy spoke with the staff at Chapel Haven about what had happened to John. Then he told John: “Don’t worry, we’re going to get these guys.”
A few days later, John was still on his mind. “I felt really bad for John and I told Sgt. [Stephan] Torquati about it, and he suggested I conduct my follow up and check to see if John was experiencing any anxiety.”
So he gave John a call.
“He was thrilled that he heard back from the police,” Suchy recalled. Had the police caught the guys yet? John wanted to know. They hadn’t. Suchy told John to keep his cell phone number and to call if he was feeling any anxiety about going to work.
The police still haven’t caught the guys. But someone found John’s wallet a few days after Suchy did his follow up, in the back yard of a house that was in the direction that the men had fled. Two officers came to return the wallet to John in person.
This is where the story could have ended But it didn’t.
In early April Suchy received a letter that said: “On Thursday, March 26th our son John, was robbed while waiting for a bus after finishing work at St. Raphael’s. John called police then called us. John was on the phone with us when you arrived. He put the phone by his side so he could speak with you. We were still on the call so heard the exchange between you and our son.”
Fran and Mitch had heard all of Suchy’s interaction with their son. Now they were writing to thank Suchy for “the kindness, understanding and respect you showed John as you questioned him about the robbery.”
John also told his parents about how Suchy had checked up on him. “That phone call helped John feel safe again,” they wrote. “It was very caring, thoughtful gesture and we are grateful for your efforts.”
John’s parents also knew that officers had returned John’s wallet. “Some may think that is the best part of the story,” they wrote. “We disagree. John meeting you at a very difficult time was a blessing … that’s the highlight of what happened to John.
“As parents, and out of state parents as well, we worry about the independence we have allowed John to enjoy. Chapel Haven is a fantastic program and has helped John achieve more than we ever thought possible. John is happy and has a wonderful community of friends. This was the first issue John has had in his 6 years living in New Haven. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for helping our son through a very difficult situation.”
“Officer Suchy, thank you for your integrity, character and for honoring all that your badge stands for. Stay safe,” the letter concluded.
Suchy said he’s gotten a number of thank-you letters and notes in his nearly 18 years as a police officer. This was the most touching.
“I’ve gotten the ‘My son was intoxicated; thanks for seeing him home.’ Or ‘my son was in a fight, thanks for breaking it up and getting him home safely,’” he said. “But obviously they put some time into this.”
Suchy, who is now helping to train new officers like Samantha Romano (pictured in the photo at left) in the Dwight district, said it was the last line of the letter that touched him most. “I’ve never,” he said, “had anyone say anything as positive as that.”
“This is the good side of policing,” Romano said.
Suchy was so touched by the letter that he reached out to Lt. Herb Johnson, the former top cop for Fair Haven who now runs the police department’s Bureau of Identification, to help him do something special for John. They had hoped to get John a Chief’s Cup T‑shirt, but since the police department won the annual hockey match with the fire department, the shirts were all gone. “He was pretty happy that we had won hockey game this time,” Suchy said with a chuckle. They got John a different T‑shirt, and he seemed pretty happy with it.
Read other installments in the Independent’s “Cop of the Week” series:
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• Paul Bicki (2)
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• Keron Bryce and Osvaldo Garcia (2)
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• Jeremie Elliott (2)
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* Elisa Tuozzoli
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A story that nearly made me cry. I see the Chapel Haven folks around and worry about their safety. Wonderful to learn about a deeply sensitive officer who turned a bad situation around. Thanks NHPD and Officer Suchy and thanks Markeshia Ricks.