Jubilant Street Naming Ceremony For The Late Sgt. Keith Ferguson In Baychester This Morning

Members of NYPD, elected officials, friends and family members gathered Saturday, Aug. 2 at 11 a.m. at the corner of Ely Avenue and Adee Avenue, Bronx, to rename the intersection “Sergeant Keith A. Ferguson Way” in memory of the Bronx NYPD Sergeant who died while rushing to the assistance of a fellow officer.  The intersection is down the street from Ferguson’s boyhood home, near Haffen Park.

fergusonmomThe message was clear that to answer the question, “What Would Fergie Do?”, an old saying that friends would say about Ferguson, known for his good cheer and positive attitude, Keith Ferguson would have had as big a smile on his face as his mother, who was visibly overjoyed throughout the ceremony at the love and support eminating from the countless police officers and community members who livened a dreary Saturday morning in Baychester’s “Valley”.

andykingstreetnamingSgt. Ferguson died on Jan. 1, 2004, after suffering a heart attack while running to assist an officer who was chasing a suspect.  Sgt. Ferguson, a 17-year servant of the New York Police Department, was on patrol in lower Manhattan as a part of the NYPD anti-terrorism unit when he heard a foot patrol officer calling for assistance. According to reports, the officer chased a suspect who he had attempted to arrest.

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Sgt. Ferguson responded to the scene, but his vehicle got stuck in heavy traffic. Sgt. Ferguson exited his vehicle and began to run to the location where the officer needed assistance. When Sgt. Ferguson arrived on the corner of Broadway and Grand Street, with several other officers who had responded to the call, he collapsed onto the trunk of a vehicle.

Sgt. Ferguson’s partners gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions while racing to St. Vincent’s Hospital Center. Doctors there were unable to revive Sgt.  Ferguson.

A native New Yorker and member of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit, Truck 7. Keith served with the NYPD for 17 years as a patrolman, detective and then sergeant. He worked in Narcotics, Street Crimes, Auto-crimes, Midtown South, the 1st and 67th Precincts before the ESU. 

In June 2005, Sergeant Ferguson was posthumously awarded the New York City Police Department’s Purple Shield Medal. The Sgt. Keith A. Ferguson Memorial 5K race takes place every 1st Sunday in August across the Brooklyn Bridge.http://keithsrace.org/

 

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