Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Florida
End of Watch: Thursday, June 3, 1982
Age: 26
Tour of Duty: 3 years, 4 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: June 3, 1982
Weapon Used: Rifle
Suspect Info: Acquitted
Deputy Sheriff Frank Genovese was shot and killed while participating in a SWAT team operation during a standoff with an armed suspect on 10th Lane in Greenacres.
The suspect, who had set his furniture on fire and was threatening to blow up his apartment, surrendered to police after a four-hour siege.
Although the suspect had fired at officers, he was acquitted on December 14th, 1984, after his attorney convinced a jury that an officer's return fire may have killed Deputy Genovese.
Six months later, the suspect was charged with the attempted murder of a Miami police officer during a wild chase. The pursuit ended when he plowed his Corvette into four police cars at a roadblock, injuring one officer. On March 18th, 1988, he was charged with numerous firearms violations, including the sale and possession of machine guns, after his arrest by ATF agents and Miami Police Department detectives.
Deputy Genovese was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department for 16 months. Before that, he served with the Daytona Beach Police Department for three years. He was survived by his wife and parents.
Deputy Genovese was posthumously presented with the Medal of Honor on September 13th, 1982.