Reward offered in wake of damage to memorial
BY MARK ROSMAN Staff Writer
The National Police Defense Foundation (NPDF) is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who vandalized its Sept. 11 police memorial.

Joseph Occhipinti examines damage done to part of a 9/11 monument.

According to a press release from the NPDF, the foundation commissioned sculptor Franco Minervini of Freehold to create the foundation's Sept. 11 memorial.

The memorial, which is 90 percent complete, is currently at Minervini's studio on Weaverville Road near Business Route 33 and Kozloski Road in Freehold Township.Anyone with information about the vandalism, which occurred during the evening of April 12, may contact Freehold Township police at (732) 462-7500.

When the NPDF's Sept. 11 memorial is completed it will be placed adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel.

NPDF Executive Director Joseph Occhipinti said onApril 14 that posters were being put up in the area to let people know about the vandalism and about the reward that is being offered.

"My gut feeling is that a local person did this. It could be juveniles," Occhipinti said. "What happened to this memorial really offends the law enforcement community. We have worked on this for so long and we were getting ready to move it to the arts center. What was done to the memorial was intentional. I am hoping the sculptor will be able to repair it."

The NPDF Sept. 11 memorial is a 14- foot high wall of Indiana limestone that features a carved American flag unfurled like a protective blanket against the twin towers of the World Trade Center. To the right of the buildings stands a full-size statue of a police officer at attention with a police dog at his side.

According to the press release, the sculpture represents the 37 Port Authority Police Department police officers, one Port Authority Police Department K-9 police dog and 23 New York Police Department officers who were killed in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 2001, while responding to a terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

The NPDF said it is the policeman sculpture that was defaced during the evening ofApril 12.According to the press release, the perpetrators used a blunt object to damage the policeman's face and visor of his uniform cap. Estimates of the damage range into the thousands of dollars, if it can be repaired at all.

In August 2007 Greater Media Newspapers published a story describing how Minervini was creating the NPDF monument. His credits include his design and execution of the Monmouth County Sept. 11 Memorial in Atlantic Highlands.

"I selected Indiana limestone (for the NPDF memorial) because it is an American stone, a durable stone and easy to work," Minervini said at the time. "The design I made is patriotic, strong and righteous."

Occhipinti saidMinervini was selected to create the police memorial for the organization because of his expertise and reputation as a stone carver.