Patrol car NYPD cop Eddie Byrne was killed inside will be restored
The bullet-scarred patrol car of NYPD Officer Eddie Byrne — who was executed by a drug dealer as he sat inside — will be brought back to life by some of the cops who were on duty that night 40 years ago, The Post has learned.
The estimated $30,000 restoration effort is a labor of love about a dozen retired officers who will ask the NYPD to install the car at the Police Academy in Queens so young cops can learn about Byrne, 22, who was guarding the home of a witness in a drug dealer’s criminal case on Feb. 26, 1988, when he was murdered.
“They wanted to make every police officer afraid to do the dangerous job we do,” Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro, whose union is helping to fund the work, said. “It didn’t work. This car tells everyone everywhere that each of us carries Eddie Byrne with us every day.”
The hole from the bullet that tore through the passenger’s side door will remain on the vehicle as a symbol of Byrne’s sacrifice.
As it was held as possible evidence, the blue 1987 Chevy Caprice sat in a Red Hook warehouse for about a decade — during which it was damaged by floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and scorched by a fire 10 years later.
Today, the patrol car has faded to light blue, and its roof and hood have turned a rusty orange hue. It’s tires have been worn away by being dragged by a forklift for inspection, since it no longer runs.
“The roof has caved in on itself from being exposed to the elements for the past 20 years,” said retired Detective Jay Caputo, one of the cops leading the preservation effort.
“The taillights melted and the light bar on top melted from the fire,” Caputo said as he pointed to the car’s roof when a reporter visited the Erie Basin Auto Pound in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
“God must still be watching over Eddie, because the car still stands,” added Caputo.
Retired NYPD Det. Michael Siraco, who left the job in 2005, and Det. Sgt. Jon Schwartz, who left in 2010, were on duty that night and are among the 10-12 retired NYPD and Nassau County cops who will be working on it after it’s moved to a shop in Long Island.
“I was doing the midnight when I heard a radio run come over of a cop shot in the 103 precinct,” Siraco said, recalling the night Byrne was killed.
He and other cops immediately started hunting for the suspects.
“We were looking for a Cutlass,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t know that Eddie passed away.”
Schwartz had just gotten off work but returned upon hearing a brother-in-blue had been shot.
“We turned Queens upside down looking for these guys,” Schwartz said.
Eventually, the four killers, Philip Copeland, Todd Scott, Scott Cobb, and David McClary, were caught and eventually imprisoned.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch pointed out that Byrne “was just 22-years-old when his life was taken while protecting New Yorkers.”
“‘The restoration of Officer Byrne’s patrol car will serve as a tribute to his sacrifice and the NYPD’s commitment to never forget the memory of our fallen officers,” the commissioner said.
The work will be funded by donations from The NYPD Police Foundation and Nassau County police, along with the Detectives Endowment Association.
