Beyond the Call of Duty
Former Red Hawk Nick Volpe ’19 came up with many clutch moments while on the football field for Ʒ˸. However, none of them compare to the one he had this past November when the rookie police officer in Howell Township, New Jersey, rescued a man moments before his car burst into flames.
It was one of three saves in recent months by Ʒ˸ alumni. New Jersey State Trooper Corey Beczo ’15 saved the life of a distraught teen who was attempting to jump from a highway overpass in Camden. And Toms River Police Officer Rebecca Sayegh ’15 rescued a woman from a burning house.
The officers, who each earned a BA in Justice Studies, say it was all in a day’s work. “There are times and places where things go the right way,” Beczo says.

Even so, each was hailed a hero and responded to the ensuing media attention with grace and humility.
As a first responder to the burning home – where she could hear the woman inside yelling for help – Sayegh recalls thinking, “I’m going to do what I would want someone to do for me” before breaking down the door to save the homeowner and her pets.

Beczo, a classmate and friend of Sayegh, was able to save a teen when a gathering crowd caused a momentary distraction. Beczo saw an opening – “it was a now-or-never situation” – as he wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him to safety.
Volpe was on patrol driving down a road where a car just moments before had hit a tree. He pulled the driver out a window before the car caught fire. Following the incident, Volpe drove the man home to his anxious family. “As I was leaving, I explained the story to his wife, and she thanked me for saving his life.”
