Afghan American Cop Hailed as Hero in New York

NEW YORK — 

On July 20, New York Police Sergeant Hameed Armani faced a situation that could either turn him into a deserter or a hero. The Afghan immigrant opted for hero.

Armani remembers it as a beautiful night. Times Square in New York City was packed “with thousands of people.” Armani and his partner, Officer Peter Cybulski were watching them from their parked police van around 11:30 p.m. when a man in a sports utility vehicle tossed a device into the van through an open window. It landed on the dash board.

“I looked at Cybulski and at the device.The lights started flashing, and it started to make noise,” recalls Armani.  “Cybulski goes, ‘Boss this is a bomb.’ I looked around. The first thing I saw was two little kids right in front of my van and looked to my left. The area was packed with people.”

Armani decided to take the device and go as far as possible from the crowd. He said Cybulski was on board with the decision.  Cybulski held the device as Armani drove to a more deserted location on Sixth Avenue. They put the device on the ground and called the bomb squad. The experts determined the object was a dud, but the heroism of the police was real.

New York City Police Commissioner at the time Bill Bratton said the two officers were NYPD heroes and the heroes of New York City.

"They put their own lives at risk so that they could save potentially hundreds if not thousands of people in Times Square," Bratton said. - More at the Hameed Armani
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