Rookie cop saved from burning car as a baby finally meets NYPD saviors, takes one of their badge numbers

A rookie Brooklyn cop who was rescued from a car fire as a baby by two Finest in the ‘90s met her saviors for the first time Friday — and was given one of their shield numbers, prompting its former owner to weep. Officer Denise Gomez was just 2 years old when NYPD detective partners Eric Ocasio and Charles Claudio pulled her, her mother and baby brother out of a burning vehicle in East Harlem in 1996.

Gomez was reunited with her heroes more than 27 years later at an heartwarming event Friday at One Police Plaza in Manhattan, where Gomez received Claudio’s badge number. “When we say that police officers make a real difference, it’s clearly not just words … [Gomez’s] life is their legacy,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said as he presented the touching shield to Gomez, causing Claudio to break down in tears.

“And now their work is her work.” Gomez, who now works in the 90th precinct in Brooklyn, entered the police academy in 2022. She had written about the incident — which she does not remember — as the inspiration for her decision to join New York’s Finest. Friday’s reunion, she said, was emotional for her and her mother.

“It means a lot. It’s an honor. Hopefully, I can do exactly what they did for others. This is why we’re here — to help others, to be there and to serve,” she said. “To meet them, it’s like they’re superheroes,” Gomez added of her rescuers all those years ago. Ocasio, 57, became overwhelmed reflecting on his 25 year career — and also the starting one of the person he helped save.

“It’s a ripple effect to know that you had an impact as a young man coming on the force. You always dream of something like this that you want to do well, you want to do good,” he said. “But to find out 10 years after I retired that this young lady wanted to carry on because of what my partner and I did that day — it’s very fulfilling,” he continued, starting to cry.

“To be honest with you, if I was to die tomorrow as far as my police career, you know you did well,” Ocasio said. Claudio, 60, added, “This is a great honor for me and my partner to be in front of people and live a dream. “I’m just glad that she joined our family,” he said of Gomez. “This is a family.

I feel like I gained another daughter.” Ocasio and Claudio were on patrol on East 116th Street in Harlem on a hot July night in 1996 when they spotted a vehicle stopped at a red light with gasoline gushing from the bottom, according to police. The cops leapt out of their cruiser and yelled to alert the driver, but the gasoline caught fire, and within seconds, the car was completely engulfed in flames, with 2 year old Gomez, her 1 year old brother, and her mother trapped inside.

The mother screamed as the inside of the car filled with smoke, and Ocasio and Claudio sprang into action and tried to open the doors, but they were locked, police said. Ocasio busted the driver’s side window open with his radio and, with the help of a good Samaritan, pulled the mother to safety. Meanwhile, Claudio rescued Gomez and her brother from the back seat.

In the end, the family was unscathed. Gomez said she first learned about her rescue from an old newspaper article. “We consistently talked about it all the time throughout our careers: ‘I wonder what happened to them,’ ” said Ocasio, who now lives just 5 minutes from his former NYPD partner in Florida, about Gomez and her family.

Lt. Jose Caraballo of the Police Academy reached out to the retired officers to see if they wanted to meet Garcia. “When I got the call, for my partner and I it was special because we’ve been retired over 10 years now,” Ocasio said. “So to hear a story like that. I had a great career, 25 years.

I worked with some fantastic people. And this was the cherry on top.”.