Patrolman Thomas Joseph Sheehan, New York City Police Department, New York

Patrolman Thomas Joseph Sheehan

New York City Police Department, New York

End of Watch Friday, January 16, 1953

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Thomas Joseph Sheehan

Patrolman Thomas Sheehan suffered a fatal heart attack after a foot chase of a burglar at a hotel in the 400 block of West 22nd Street in Manhattan.

At 3:00 am, Patrolman Sheehan and his partner responded to a burglar call at the hotel. Due to the elevator being used, both Patrolmen ran up six flights of steps to the roof. They caught sight of the burglar and pursued him to the hotel's roof, and lost him. Both Patrolmen returned to their patrol car, where Officer Sheehan complain of chest pains and being unable to breathe. His partner took him to the hospital, where he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Patrolman Sheehan was a WWII veteran and had served with the New York City Police Department for two and a half years, assigned to the 10th Precinct. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Bio

Age 29
Tour 2 years, 6 months
Badge 7547
Military Veteran

Incident Details

Cause Heart attack

burglary, foot pursuit

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Most Recent Reflection

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My grandmother, Bernadette Sheehan, his younger sister, always spoke in reverence of Thomas. The story of his death described here was exactly how I remembered it. A detail that was left out here, was how NYC mourned his death. She told me as a child, how streets were closed, how citizens lined the streets. How his brethren walked beside his casket to his grave. His service to our country, and the city of New York is still remembered as I found here. Thank you for this memoriam.

Matthew Leboeuf
Grand Uncle

December 26, 2022