Truly a heroic deed Weehawken Lt. DeCosmis saves life of drowning victim in Hudson River
Oct 02, 2007 | 66 views | 0 
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Sure, the lifelong Weehawken resident tried his hand at other jobs first. He was a financial management consultant for Shearson Lehman in the early 1990s and even had a stint as the assistant to Weehawken township manager Jim Marchetti.
But DeCosmis came from a family of police officers. His father, Richard, Sr. was a Weehawken police officer for more than 30 years and later became the civilian police director upon retirement. His younger brother, John, is also a long-time police officer in the township. Police work is in the DeCosmis family bloodline.
"I had aspirations to do other things, but it always came back to being a cop," DeCosmis said. "After I tried other things, I always knew that I wanted to be a cop."
Dedicated service
For the last 15 years, DeCosmis has been a dedicated and hard working member of the Weehawken Police Department. He worked his way through the ranks, becoming a sergeant in 2001 and a lieutenant last year. He was a member of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Narcotics Task Force and was also a decorated Weehawken detective before moving up the rank and file.
However, nothing DeCosmis experienced in his law enforcement career could match what he had to endure last Thursday afternoon, when he went above and beyond the call of duty to rescue a drowning man from the murky waters of the Hudson River.
It all began around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
"I was just about to leave for the day," DeCosmis explained. "I was working the day shift (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) when a call came in that a man was in the water of the Hudson River."
A call for help
DeCosmis was on patrol with Officer Jon Sabato, a long-time friend and colleague.
"We headed down there to the waterfront to see what was happening," DeCosmis said.
When they arrived at the scene near Arthur's Landing restaurant, DeCosmis noticed some people standing at the dock, pointing towards the water.
"All I saw was a man's head about 40 yards out into the water," DeCosmis said. "He couldn't swim and was screaming that he was drowning. I knew right there and then that I had to go into the water. I turned to Jon and said, `I have to go in.' So I handed him my weapon and I went into the water."
DeCosmis quickly remembered a tip that he received from his father.
"He told me that if I ever had to go into the river, don't jump in, but walk in," DeCosmis said. "He said it was too dangerous to jump in. So I walked into the water and went as far as I could go. Within a minute of getting there, I had a sense that this man was going to die if I didn't do something to help him."
A water rescue
When DeCosmis reached the man, later identified as a 46-year-old man from Cresskill in Bergen County, he was apparently reciting scripture passages from the Bible and praying. DeCosmis wondered how he was going to get the man out of the water.
"A construction worker from Fletcher Creamer threw me a life preserver," DeCosmis said. "I could see he was going down. At that point, adrenalin just kicked in. Everything was crystal clear. Everything came natural. I knew what I had to do. He was a pretty big guy, about 6-3 and 250 pounds. I got my arms around him. I couldn't get the preserver around him, so I just brought him back to shore.
Added DeCosmis, "I acted like I had done it 1,000 times before. There were so many people watching. I just didn't want him to drown and I didn't want anyone to see him drown."
When DeCosmis pulled the man to the shore, he was grateful.
"He said, `Thank God and you're my savior,'" DeCosmis said. "He seemed very happy to be alive."
Still grounded
Preliminary reports stated that the man had allegedly attempted to kill himself, but DeCosmis isn't so sure.
"He was definitely emotionally upset," DeCosmis said. "I think he wanted to try to baptize himself or walk on water, but I didn't think he wanted to take his own life."
DeCosmis brought the man to safety at the shore, where he was transported to the Palisades Medical Center for treatment. At first, DeCosmis didn't want to go to the hospital, but he was talked into it and a blood pressure check showed how much he needed medical attention.
"However, I smelled like Sea World for about three hours," he laughed.
DeCosmis' actions were immediately applauded.
"There were rescue people there who said that he was dead if I didn't go into the water to get him," DeCosmis said.
So does he feel like a hero?
"Not really," DeCosmis said. "I think my mother and father keep me pretty grounded and won't let me get big headed. They already told me to get over it."
The 40-year-old DeCosmis is also one of the more charitable members of the department, helping to coordinate the fundraising efforts that the Weehawken police does every year with the Torch Run for Special Olympics.
"I always like to do something to help others," DeCosmis said. "If you give or do something nice for someone, it comes back to you."
Turner commends officers
DeCosmis is not going to lie about his brave act.
"I'll tell you, it was the scariest thing I've been involved with as a police officer," DeCosmis said. "I was scared out of my head, for lack of a better term. But I just let my instincts take over."
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner credited the heroic efforts of not only DeCosmis, but partner Sabato as well.
"The acts of Lt. DeCosmis and Officer Sabato should be commended," Turner said. "Not only are they credits to themselves, but it exemplifies the hard work and dedication of the entire police department. It makes us very proud of our police department, when they go above and beyond the call of duty and perform a heroic act such as this."
DeCosmis still can't believe what he did.
"It's the best feeling I've had since becoming a police officer," DeCosmis said. "It's why I wanted to do this job."
However, there's one interesting sidelight to the whole heroic deed.
"I don't like the water," DeCosmis said. "I'm not a big water guy. I don't even go to the deep end of a pool."
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com
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