Patrolman Salvatore Patti

Salvatore Patti

Patrolman Salvatore Patti suffered a fatal heart attack that was attributed to an attack in which he was beaten by six men as he walked his beat at about 3:05 am on May 26th, 1957.

He had observed two cars racing on Pennington Avenue and stopped them at the intersection of East Main Avenue and Park Place. As he checked the identification of the occupants a third car with several more occupants pulled up. One of the occupants became disorderly and Patrolman Patti attempted to arrest him. He was attacked by the group and suffered serious injuries.

He never fully recovered from the assault and died from complications. The subject who held him while the other five beat him was sentenced to one to two years. The other five were ordered to pay fines.

Patrolman Patti was a WWII veteran and had served with the Passaic Police Department for five years. He was survived by his wife and three sons.