Two NYPD officers from LI awarded department's highest honor
Two police officers from Long Island were awarded the NYPD's Medal of Honor Tuesday, with one of them given the department's highest honor posthumously.
Det. Anastasios Tsakos, of East Northport, who was killed in the line of duty last year at 43, and Officer Dash Veve, of North Baldwin, who at 35 suffered brain injury in 2017 when he was dragged three blocks by a car in Brooklyn, were both awarded the honor at the NYPD's annual Medal Day.
NYPD Highway Patrol Det. Anastasios Tsakos of East Northport, who was killed in the line of duty April 27, 2021. Credit: NYPD
Accepting the medal for Tsakos from New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell was his widow, Irene. Tsakos, an NYPD highway officer, a father of two, died while he was responding to a crash just east of Exit 26 on the Long Island Expressway. A car sped through police lines on the expressway and struck Tsakos.
Police arrested Jessica Beauvais of Hempstead in connection with the death after she allegedly tried to elude capture. She faces pending vehicular homicide charges in Queens State Supreme Court. Tsakos's funeral was at Saint Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church in Greenlawn and during the ceremony he was promoted by then-commissioner Dermot Shea to the rank of first grade detective.
Veve, of North Baldwin, suffered brain injuries after a driver of a car cops had stopped in Brooklyn suddenly sped away as the officers held on. Veve was dragged by the car until he finally broke free, striking his head on the pavement. The injuries Veve suffered put him into rehabilitation which he is still undergoing today, said officials.
The alleged driver of the car, a then-teenager who police have said was driving a car stolen from Valley Stream, has been charged with attempted murder.
Veve sat in a wheelchair with his wife, Esther, and daughter, Darshee, nearby as he received his Medal of Honor to sustained applause from the crowd.
New York Mayor Eric Adams awards a medal to Officer Dash Veve during the Annual Medal Day Ceremony at the NYPD Police Academy in Queens on Tuesday. Credit: Mayoral Photography Office/Michael Appleton
Four other officers received the Combat Cross at Tuesday's ceremony, awarded in cases involving adversarial shootings, and four Medals of Valor also related to adversarial incidents were given out.
Nearly 35 Distinguished Service medals were awarded posthumously to officers who recently lost their lives because of illness related to Sept. 11. Special citations went to 15 police units.
Addressing the crowd of family, friends and NYPD personnel, Adams, a former NYPD captain, remarked on how cops are devoted to their work and push on despite feeling unappreciated.
"There are days when you feel, why am I doing this job, why am I putting myself in harms way everyday?," Adams asked rhetorically. " We do it because we believe in it. We do it because we know what stands between safety and those who want to destroy our city are the heroes we are acknowledging today."
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
