Names of 4 fallen officers added to Nassau County police memorial wall

Nassau County police added four bronze plaques to their memorial wall Thursday for members of the department who died from illnesses in the line of duty.

The names of Det. Hector Nunez, 42, Det. Matthew Perlungher, 50, Det. Charles C. Vroom, 52, and Officer Robert Negri, 56, were read and unveiled by family members and police at the memorial and park in front of Nassau County police headquarters in Mineola.

The four join 40 other officers at the police memorial who have died on duty since 1925.

“We gather to honor the memory and remember the many brave police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives in the service of peace and justice,” the Rev. Joseph D’Angelo said. “We especially remember our recently departed officers taken from us this past year whose line of duty deaths have brought us and our department great sorrow and loss.”

Negri, a 28-year Nassau police veteran with Nassau who died in September 2011, and Perlungher, a 24-year veteran who died in August 2021, both died from illnesses related to search and rescue efforts at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks.

Nunez, a 16-year Nassau police veteran assigned to Elmont who died in December 2021, and Vroom, a 17-year Nassau police veteran assigned to Williston Park who died in September 2021, both died from exposure to COVID-19. Vroom also served seven years with the NYPD.

“We remember each year Nassau police officers who died in the performance of their duties,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said. “We are more than 20 years from the events of 9/11, when cowardly fanatics attacked America, and still we are laying to rest our heroes.”

“We are three years from the worst pandemic in our country,” Ryder said. “These four heroes will be remembered here today and forever enshrined on our memorial wall.”

The four officers were added last week to the New York State memorial in Albany and to the national police memorial in Washington, D.C.

“These men and women put their lives on the line every day for the safety of residents of our county. That is a debt we can never repay,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said. “We come here to comfort the families to let them know we’ll never forget. Their loved ones will always be in our hearts.”

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.