Greater Long Island coverage is funded in part by Toresco & Simonelli, a boutique injury and family law firm in West Islip. They fight for their clients. Click here to get in touch.
The Suffolk County cop who nearly lost his life in a high-speed crash earlier this year reached a new milestone in his comeback this weekend — throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field before the Mets’ Saturday afternoon win over the Seattle Mariners.
Officer Brendon Gallagher, 35, of the department’s Street Takeover Task Force, was greeted with cheers as he walked to the mound in Queens and delivered the pitch. Dressed casually in a black t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts, Gallagher was exuberant before and after tossing the ball toward home plate.
His appearance was highlighted in a Suffolk County Police Department Facebook post, which praised Gallagher for being “well on the road to recovery” after suffering life-threatening injuries in January.
Comeback cop
Gallagher’s ordeal began Jan. 5 during a traffic stop near Exit 55 of the Long Island Expressway in Brentwood. Police said a Ford Mustang, allegedly driven by 29-year-old Cody Fisher, sped past at nearly 100 mph. Gallagher gave chase, but Fisher lost control of the car, sideswiping Gallagher’s patrol SUV.
Officer Gallagher’s recovery from the Brentwood crash called ‘miraculous’
The officer’s vehicle overturned and slammed into a tree. He was trapped inside vehicle for 45 minutes and bleeding out; later arriving at Stony Brook University Hospital in grave condition.
Gallagher spent weeks in the hospital; colleagues and doctors his recovery as “miraculous.” By late January, doctors cleared him to be released from the hospital.
Gallagher, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who served in Afghanistan from 2016 to 2017, previously survived a stabbing in the line of duty in December 2022 during a police call in Medford.
Perhaps Gallagher brought New York a bit of good luck — the previously slumping Mets beat the Mariners, 3-1, behind a strong Major League debut pitching performance from starter Nolan McLean.
Top images: Facebook
