Mourners Bid Farewell To Beloved NYPD Officer In Greenlawn

GREENLAWN, NY — Tens of thousands of people — NYPD officers among the majority — lined Pulaski Road in Greenlawn on an overcast but mild Tuesday to pay respects to fallen NYPD officer Anastasios Tsakos.

Tsakos, 43, of East Northport, was honored at St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Shrine Church before a motorcade brought him past a sea of solemn, misty-eyed men and women in blue.

The officer's life was tragically cut short on April 27 when authorities said he was hit and killed by a drunken driver while he was responding to another fatal crash on the Long Island Expressway.

A crowd, ranging from first responders to civilians, gathered outside the church to listen in on a speaker system carrying audio from the funeral mass. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, and Tsakos's wife, Irene, took turns speaking on the man affectionately known as "Tasso."

Everyone listened intently as Irene's voice carried over the speakers, and she spoke about her beloved husband and the father of their two children: a 6-year-old daughter, Jenny, and a 3-year-old son, Stavro.

"He was the best father for our children," Irene said. "So loving and nurturing. He was a hands-on dad. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his children. He was their playmate, and he loved it."

Tsakos would build little houses out of cardboard boxes for his children, take them to the park, play in the yard with them, and read them funny bedtime stories that would keep them up rather than put them to sleep, Irene recalled. He comforted his kids when they had nightmares or when they were sick. He taught his son the names of all the tools he owned and allowed his daughter to dress his hair.

"Anytime our kids heard keys at the door, they knew it was Daddy coming home from work, and they screamed from excitement and jumped up and down," Irene said. "If only you could hear them. Most days, he would bring them little surprises, too."

Irene expressed her wish that she had more time with her husband.

"To watch our kids grow up, see them off to college and get married," she said. "I wish we could grow old together. That was the plan. But he was taken from us too soon. And now, our kids will grow up without their dad. Without their awesome dad. I will make sure they know who he is. Every day, they'll see his face and learn about all the wonderful things he did and what a hero he was. They will never forget. I will make sure of that."

Tsakos was posthumously promoted to the rank of detective by Shea, and a long round of applause exploded over the loudspeakers.

Tsakos was struck and killed by a woman accused of driving drunk on the Long Island Expressway, officials said. He was at the scene of another fatal crash, directing traffic, when he was struck by Jessica Beauvais, 32, of Hempstead, police said.

A 2013 Volkswagen driven by Beauvais headed east on the highway at about 1 a.m., swerved to avoid other cars, veered toward Tsakos and struck him "head-on" while he was directing traffic, Shea said.

De Blasio noted that Tsakos was never afraid of hard work, adding that society has hard work to do. The mayor urged peace and unity.

"We have to bring police and community back together and rebuild that bond," de Blasio said.

De Blasio also called for harsher restrictions for those who drive while drunk, saying that the behavior can not be tolerated.

"Anyone who drives intoxicated threatens the lives of everyone in their path, and the laws are not strong enough," de Blasio said. "It still happens all the time, every day, hour-by-hour. Something we all know is wrong, and yet, we watch."

De Blasio called for the state to pass a law that will "finally penalize those who drive drunk and hurt others and kill others; to finally create consequences where they have not existed."

Beauvais drove into Tsakos at full speed, jumped a curb, then put her car in reverse before ramming a police car twice, prosecutors said, ABC7 reported. Tsakos was wearing full reflective gear and next to a police car displaying flashing lights with traffic cones nearby.

Beauvais faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, leaving an accident resulting in death, aggravated unlicensed operators, operating a motor vehicle at .08 percent alcohol, first-offense driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, driving without a license, an emergency vehicle right-of-way violation, colliding with an emergency vehicle and driving while ability impaired by alcohol, authorities said.

Beauvais had a 0.15 BAC level, nearly twice the legal limit, more than two hours after the crash, authorities said, ABC7 reported. She hosts a podcast where she made anti-police rants, though authorities don't believe it was a factor in Tsakos's death, ABC7 reported.

Beauvais streamed a video where she said, "f--- the police," just hours before she crashed into Tsakos, law enforcement told NBC News.

Multiple fundraisers were organized for Tsakos's family.

A GoFundMe and a fundraiser on Fund the First have collectively raised more than $312,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.