4 JULY 14 - JULY 20, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Bay Ridge hero honored by BP for aiding
wounded man during London terror attack
BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Bay Ridge’s own received a hero’s
welcome.
Twenty-year-old local Mark
Kindschuh was honored on Monday,
July 10 with the Hero of the Month
Award for June at Borough Hall by
Borough President Eric Adams.
Kindschuh, one of a few honorees
during the ceremony, was recognized
for his bravery during a terror attack
in London in June as he saved a man
who was wounded by giving him medical
attention amidst the chaotic scene.
The award meant a lot to both the
Boston College student and his parents,
who were also in attendance. “It means
pretty much everything as I’ve been
a proud Brooklynite my entire life,
so to be recognized at Borough Hall
is a huge and tremendous honor and
I’m very humbled,” he told this paper,
while discussing what occurred that
evening. “I ran over to a man on the
ground who had a head wound and I
used my belt as a tourniquet to apply
pressure and slow down the flow of
blood. I was able to do that and just
keep pressure the whole time because
the flow of blood was tremendous.”
Kindschuh said his training helped
him aid the patient. “I wasn’t calm,
but I was able to respond well in that
situation because of the training I’ve
experienced as an ROTC Cadet and Army
Cadet," he said. "We’re taught how
to do first aid. My training definitely
helped me respond.”
Since returning to his hometown
of Bay Ridge, many locals have shown
their appreciation for his actions. “A
lot of people who I didn’t really know
too well beforehand are approaching
me when they see me out and about, at
the store or a restaurant, and thanking
me for responding to that situation
and thinking on my feet,” he said.
Kindschuh’s father, also named
Mark, a doctor at Coney Island Hospital,
was proud of his son. “It touches
my heart and gives me hope,” he told
this paper. “I feel like my son will
always know that by contributing to
the lives of others, he’ll always make
a positive impact.”
“In the midst of gunfire and danger,
it takes a special individual to put their
own cares to the side and say I’m going
help another human being, and that
is what our June hero accomplished,”
Adams said. “In the early hours of
Sunday, June 4, Mark was inside one of
the popular pubs in London’s market,
enjoying the evening with a group of
his classmates. In the blink of an eye,
terrorists stormed into a bar and went
on a stabbing spree.”
The borough president stressed
how Kindschuh's actions give hope
to today’s youth. “What Mark did was
just astonishing. People talk about
what is happening to our young people
and are they going to be all right,”
he said. “Mark sent a message that
darn right, we’re going to be all right.
He is a symbol of what is great about
this country and the young people of
this country.”
Nonetheless, Kindschuh's modesty
was apparent. “I don’t view myself in
this situation as a hero,” he said. “The
heroes are the SWAT team and EMT
and medical personnel who responded
in an awful situation.”
68th Precinct cop honored for key arrests
BY HELEN KLEIN
HKLEIN@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
A 68th Precinct police officer snagged Cop of the
Month honors for June for two significant collars,
one of which resulted in the rescue of a teenage
boy who was being abused by a sexual predator.
According to Captain Joseph Hayward, the commanding
officer of the 68th Precinct, Police Officer Salvatore
Mazzaro saved the 15-year-old, who had been reported
missing, after he went to meet the alleged predator in
person, having gotten to know him on the internet.
“The predator had started to groom the boy, talking to
him and getting him into a situation where the kid felt all
right going into the individual’s home,” explained Hayward,
adding that when Mazzaro and the other members
of the midnight patrol tracked him down in the suspect’s
home, “The boy was there and being abused.”
After securing the residence as a crime scene and
getting a search warrant, Hayward continued, Mazzaro
also discovered child pornography and drugs on the
premises.
In the other arrest, Mazzaro and other members of
the midnight patrol had responded in the early morning
hours to a report of a burglary in progress on 14th
Avenue.
“They weren’t worried about their own safety,” Hayward
recounted, explaining that Mazzaro and the other
officers who responded took into custody two suspects,
one of whom had been arrested 13 times before.
“One was a violent offender who had several burglary
arrests,” Hayward said. “They had broken into an establishment,
breaking a window, and set off an alarm. It was
a really impressive job, and they couldn’t make me more
proud.”
Mazzaro has made over 70 arrests, working the late
tour, according to Hayward.
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Helen Klein
Captain Joseph Hayward and Police Officer
Salvatore Mazzaro.
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Jaime DeJesus
Mark Kindschuh with his parents.