'Hero Cop' Says Saving Lives is Just Part of His Job

By CINDY SIMONEAU, Correspondent

For Fairfield Police Officer James Pauciello, saving lives is more than just a duty -- it has become a reality, twice.

Pauciello, an 18-year veteran of the force, was on routine patrol on Kings Highway East on February 1, 2007, when he noticed a teenager walking west on the railroad tracks. At first, he thought the 13-year-old girl dressed in a black jacket, with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, was just taking a dangerous detour from the main road.

He yelled for her to get off the tracks, but she kept walking. He made a U-turn with his patrol car, pulled alongside the tracks, and yelled again. She continued walking. He could see she was crying and did not respond to his orders. “It was then I knew she wasn’t going to leave -- that she had some sort of other plan,” said Pauciello.

That plan, as he later discovered, involved a pact with a classmate at a school in Bridgeport. “I was just hoping it didn’t happen right in front of me -- right there in the open where anyone could have seen,” he recalled.

However, on the tracks, the girl was not answering any questions about her name, why she was not in school, or why she was on the tracks. She did stop walking when Pauciello approached. As he spoke to her, seconds ticked by. Then, he “felt something,” looked back over his shoulder, and saw the fast-approaching Acela high-speed train.

“I just pushed her with me off the tracks, as the train was blowing its horn. It all happened so fast there was no time to think, just move.” Pauciello describes the Acela as being amazingly quiet. “You don’t know it’s coming until it’s right on top of you.”

The only place to go was a small tract of grass between the tracks and a fence bordering the nearby Grasmere neighborhood, just a few feet from the train. As the Acela raced by, Pauciello leaned into the fence, holding the girl. Then it was over, and he was calling for medical assistance for the teen and realizing how close they had just come to a disaster.

“I don’t think any amount of training can prepare you for the realization someone came close to committing suicide, and you were right there with them,” he said.

For Pauciello, however, it was not his first encounter with someone trying to commit suicide, nor his first time heroically -- as his fellow officers tell it -- saving someone’s life.

On Father’s Day in 1991, Pauciello was driving on Interstate 95 from Milford to Fairfield when he saw a man sitting atop a railing of a Bridgeport bridge on the opposite side of the highway. At first he thought the man could be fishing, but then he saw a state police officer was nearby. Pauciello moved off the highway and entered on the other side. “I pulled up behind the state police cruiser, identified myself, and asked if I could help. The trooper continued to talk to the guy while I slowly walked up on the other side of the parked cars.”

The man kept telling them to stay back and slipped down to a lower level of the railing. As another state police officer pulled up, the man looked toward the car. It was then Pauciello acted, racing forward and putting his arms around the man and the railing. The state police officers then pulled the man up off the bridge.

“I didn’t start out that day to save someone’s life, but I just was a little nosy and in the right position to help,” he said.

As in the 1991 life-saving incident, Pauciello received a commendation from the Fairfield Police Department. Several other organizations have made inquiries to the department about his actions and are considering him for awards, and he has been selected as one of the “All-Star Nominees” for recognition by the America’s Most Wanted TV program.

A Trumbull native, Pauciello said the flurry of publicity surrounding his twiceheroic acts has not been too difficult. “There’s been a lot more razzing at work, but I really don’t feel any different. I think my wife and kids are proud of me.”

He is no newcomer to publicity. As a student at Trumbull High School, he was an outstanding football and basketball player. He went on to play football as a defensive end at Utah State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He played in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Cardinals before moving on to a career in police work.

“We know our officers, through their presence and response and dedication, maintain a high level of professionalism, which helps keep both residents and visitors safe,” said Fairfield Capt. Gary MacNamara, administrative division commander. “It is, however, very significant when a police officer can save the life of a specific individual. To be in a position to save the lives of two people in an officer's career is special.

“The bottom line is that this girl is alive as a direct result of Officer Pauciello's heroic act,” said Capt. MacNamara.

As a law enforcement professional, Pauceillo, 43, said he does not plan to make any changes in his approach or philosophy. “I think of myself as a community police officer. I like to get to drive around and get to know people, and to give each person I meet a certain amount of time.” His advice to other officers is “to be actively looking for things going on, or being out of the ordinary, on their beats. That’s what happened to me. You never know when something unusual will lead to someone needing help.”

(Contact Cindy at c.simoneau@thejusticejournal.com)