Bronx Street Renamed after Fallen Cop

Bronx Street Renamed after Fallen Cop

BRONX, NEW YORK, AUGUST 4- Members of NYPD, elected officials, friends and family members gathered 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.

Council Member Andy King presented a City Council Proclamation to the family at the ceremony.

Sgt. 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 member of the New York Police Department, was on patrol in lower Manhattan as 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.

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.

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.