Lodi Police Department, New Jersey
End of Watch: Monday, August 26, 1963
Age: 40
Tour of Duty: 12 years, 6 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: August 26, 1963
Weapon Used: Officer's handgun
Suspect Info: Released after 37 years
Sergeant Peter Voto and Officer Gary Tedesco were shot and killed while responding to a disturbance call at a local bar.
The suspects had robbed an apartment in Brooklyn, New York. In celebration, they partied with friends into the early morning at the Angel Lounge in Lodi. The men, former convicts in their mid-20s, were drinking heavily, popping barbiturates, and making enough of a racket that neighbors called the police several times to complain. When Officer Tedesco and Sergeant Voto arrived to quiet the bar down, the suspects attacked the officers and took Sergeant Voto's gun. The suspects then pistol-whipped the officers and fatally shot them.
One suspect was later shot and killed by detectives from the New York City Police Department in a Manhattan hotel room. The second was convicted of murder and sentenced to death but was released by the New Jersey State Supreme Court in 2001 after serving 37 years. His original death penalty conviction was overturned in 1972 when the death penalty was declared unconstitutional.
Sergeant Voto had served with the Lodi Police Department for over 12 years. He was survived by his wife, daughter, two sons, parents, sister, and a brother who also served with the department.