News Flash

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer recently presented Nicholas Murray, of West Babylon, with the Town’s Heroism Award. The Heroism Award is the highest honor awarded by the Town of Babylon.

Murray, an officer in the New York Police Department, was off-duty and walking in Babylon Village when he noticed a broken car window. He then spotted a man walking briskly with a pocketbook (full of hair supplies) and began chasing after him. Murray chased the man for a half mile until he caught him at the Babylon Train Station, where he held him until Suffolk Police arrived on the scene. According to Murray, the man who stole the pocketbook had been struggling with drugs and needed money to fulfill his addiction. As the two were struggling on the ground, Murray told the man that he wanted to help him, not fight with him, at which point the man stopped resisting. Murray felt that maybe the experience would be the turning point for the man’s life.

“To me, I’m not a hero, and it was not about being a hero,” Murray said at the award ceremony. “It was more about trying to help someone get help for their addiction.”

On hand to witness Murray’s recognition were friends, family members officers from the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Precinct. In presenting him with the Heroism Award, Supervisor Schaffer commended Murray for his quick-thinking and courageous actions.

Pictured from left to right are Town Receiver of Taxes Corinne DiSomma, Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez, NYPD Officer Nicholas Murray, Supervisor Schaffer, SCPD 1st Precinct Inspector Mat Lewis, and SCPD 1st Precinct Deputy Inspector Patrick Reilly.