Community Corner
Tunnel To Towers To Pay Fallen NYPD Officer's Mortgage: Reports
The organization plans to help the family of Anastasios Tsakos, who bought a home in East Northport last year, according to reports.
EAST NORTHPORT, NY — When NYPD officer Anastasios Tsakos was killed by an accused drunken driver on Tuesday, officials said, his family, including his wife, 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, were left mourning the loss of their husband and father.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a Staten Island-based nonprofit, pledged to pay off the mortgage of the Tsakos family's East Northport home, according to reports.
Anastasios and his wife, Irene, bought the home last year, CBS2 reported.
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Teddy Tsakos, the brother of the fallen officer, told "Fox & Friends" that Anastasios was "an amazing guy" who loved working with the NYPD. Teddy told "Fox & Friends" that he heard the tragic news from his sister-in-law, who was concerned about how she was going to pay for her new house.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation CEO Frank Siller called the family a few hours later to inform them that his nonprofit would pay the mortgage, FOX News reported.
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Services for Tsakos are scheduled for next week in Greenlawn.
Tsakos was struck and killed by a woman accused of driving drunk on the Long Island Expressway early Tuesday, authorities said. The officer was directing traffic at another fatal crash 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, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said.
Beauvais faces a slew of charges in connection to the crash, including vehicular manslaughter.
Beauvais blew a .15 BAC, 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.
Multiple fundraisers were organized for Tsakos's family.
A GoFundMe and a fundraiser on Fund the First have collectively raised more than $237,000 as of Friday afternoon.
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