01 Feb PBA TOP COPS: January, 2014

SIXTH PRECINCT
Police Officer Daniel Fliedner
Police Officer James Maloney

On January 21, 2014, Police Officer Daniel Fliedner and Police Officer James Maloney of the Sixth Precinct responded to an unknown problem at the Deep Dale Golf Course located on the North Service Road of the Long Island Expressway in North Hills at 7:52pm. The complainant advised 911 that he had heard a male screaming for help. It was snowing heavily and was dark with blizzard conditions in full effect. The white out conditions and snow in excess of a foot on the ground made it impossible for the officers to make it past the gates of the golf course and they had to reach the complainant on foot. The complainant advised Officers Fliedner and Maloney that he had heard inconsistent cries for help in a northerly direction from his location. The officers themselves then heard the calls for help and advised radio that they were going to attempt to locate this person. They headed in the direction of the screams trekking through more than a foot of snow and snow drifts up to three feet in depth. The cries stopped briefly as the officers continued their search but started again and the officers were finally able to locate the male approximately a mile from the complainants’ location.

He was found in a gully surrounded by heavy vegetation and it took several minutes to reach him. His clothes were soaking wet and he was without gloves or a jacket. The male was suffering from hypothermia and had multiple lacerations to his face and hands from falling through the brush and was now an aided. The Officers were able to get the male to a clearing and through a gate that backed up to a building. They were able to determine their location and notified CB to have an ambulance respond. They were at the rear of a nursing home located on Community Dr in Manhasset and were able to get the aided inside and covered blankets in an attempt to warm him until the ambulance arrived.

The aided stated that he was new to the area and left work on foot when he became disoriented from the cold and snow and became lost on the golf course for about two hours. The aided was transported to North Shore Hospital with complications from hypothermia and frostbite.

If not for the determination of Officers Maloney and Fliedner and the disregard for their own wellbeing and safety, this individual would have surely succumbed to the elements and would not have been located for an undermined amount of time. For their actions in saving this individual’s life, they are named our Top Cops for January 2014.