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Mourn Officer Who Died
In Making Arrest By REUVEN BLAU
Officer Lee, 31, "died doing what he loved, what he was born to do," Mayor Bloomberg told mourners assembled at the St. Athanasius Roman Catholic Church in Bensonhurst Feb 2. A Sixth Sense Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly noted that during Officer Lee's 10-year career with the NYPD, he made over 200 arrests and received numerous commendations. "He had an uncanny ability to anticipate when something wasn't quite right in his surroundings," Mr. Kelly said. He noted the hours he put in memorizing mug shots and said, "Police Officers like Kevin Lee are simply Godgiven." His Dream Job Family and friends said that Mr. Lee, who lived in The Bronx, always wanted to become a police officer. He began his career as an auxiliary cop on Staten Island. Mr. Lee's 28-year-old wife, Erica, read a letter to him at the funeral. "Kevin, no matter what road this life takes me on, my heart will always hurt the way it hurts now," she said. During the service, she sat in a front pew next to her 6-year-old son, Adam, and her in-laws, Gilbert and Catherine. "Adam, I don't need to tell you that your daddy was a special person," Mr. Bloomberg said. Mr. Lee was working in a plainclothes robbery surveillance unit when the incident occurred. He and two of his colleagues began following three suspects as they entered five different stores in the Upper East Side. When the teenagers left the last store, one officer entered to speak with the clerk, who told him that a laptop was stolen. The officer radioed that information to Mr. Lee's team outside. The three teens, who all have prior criminal records, have since been charged with robbery, grand larceny, and resisting arrest. It is unclear why Mr. Lee, who had no reported medical problems, died while attempting to apprehend the suspect at East 86th St. and Lexington Ave. The city Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the cause of death. | |||||
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