Remembering Fallen New Hartford Police Officer

What began as a typical day on the job turned into the ultimate sacrifice for New Hartford Police Officer Joseph Corr.  Corr responded to an armed robbery in New Hartford, which led to a car chase.  That chase led to one on foot which ended in Corr's death six years ago.

"Nick had heard this big bang and one of the robbers cars hit the gas pump across the street so he ran outside to see what happened, he saw the smoke, he then saw two guys running through the woods across the street. He heard the gun shots and ran back inside."

Mike Desantis is the chef at Spaghetti Kettle, across the street from the Byrne Dairy sight where Corr was killed.  Desantis had just left the restaurant the night of the shooting.  Shortly after one of his cook's, nick, called him to let him know what was going on.

"I had tried to make my way back to the restaurant they wouldn't even let me through. The place was flooded with cop cars, swat teams, and helicopters; everybody in the restaurant was on lockdown we couldn't let anybody out."

The owner of the restaurant says it was a scary night.  Both he, Desantis, and other community members Eyewitness News spoke with agreed, that the death of Corr was a great loss to the community--even for those who didn't know him.

"A lot of people liked him...it should've never happened," says New Hartford resident, Michael Caporale.

Desantis says, "Even though you don't know him to lose somebody in the area, it's hard, it affects everybody."