Beyond the Call of Duty
Former Red Hawk Nick Volpe ’19 came up with many clutch moments while on the football field for Montclair State. However, none of them compare to the one he had this past November when the rookie police officer in Howell Township, New Jersey, rescued a man moments before his car burst into flames.
It was one of three saves in recent months by Montclair State alumni. New Jersey State Trooper Corey Beczo ’15 saved the life of a distraught teen who was attempting to jump from a highway overpass in Camden. And Toms River Police Officer Rebecca Sayegh ’15 rescued a woman from a burning house.
The officers, who each earned a BA in Justice Studies, say it was all in a day’s work. “There are times and places where things go the right way,” Beczo says.
Even so, each was hailed a hero and responded to the ensuing media attention with grace and humility.
As a first responder to the burning home – where she could hear the woman inside yelling for help – Sayegh recalls thinking, “I’m going to do what I would want someone to do for me” before breaking down the door to save the homeowner and her pets.
Beczo, a classmate and friend of Sayegh, was able to save a teen when a gathering crowd caused a momentary distraction. Beczo saw an opening – “it was a now-or-never situation” – as he wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him to safety.
Volpe was on patrol driving down a road where a car just moments before had hit a tree. He pulled the driver out a window before the car caught fire. Following the incident, Volpe drove the man home to his anxious family. “As I was leaving, I explained the story to his wife, and she thanked me for saving his life.”
