PERTH AMBOY – 1989 – Officer Ken Puccio is honored for saving 14-month-old Leonel Tejera’s life. (L to R) Carmen Morales, Leonel Tejera, Officer Ken Puccio, Mayor George Otlowski, Police Chief Edward J. Mullen Jr. *Photo Courtesy of Ken Puccio

Ken Puccio places his old badge: “111” on Police Officer Leonel Tejera

30 Years After Police Officer Ken Puccio Saved His Life

PERTH AMBOY – In 1989, Police Officer Ken Puccio saved the life of 14-month-old Leonel Tejera. Puccio was in a patrol car on Amboy Avenue when Carmen Morales flagged him down. Morales had been driving her son to the hospital when he stopped breathing. Puccio checked the air passage and determined that the boy was not breathing and had no pulse. Officer Puccio administered CPR and within minutes the boy began breathing on his own. 

Fast-forward to January 16, 2019. Leonel Tejera was sworn in as a Perth Amboy Police Officer. He will wear Ken Puccio’s Badge Number: “111.”

Puccio still has a thank you card from flowers that Morales had sent him in 1989 reading: “To Officer Puccio. Thank you so much. God Bless you and your family. As a mom I will never forget you and neither will Leonel. – Carmen and Leonel”

In an interview on Fox News, Tejera states he was inspired to become a Police Officer because Ken Puccio had saved his life and he never forgot that.

As an aside, Puccio told Carmen that she would have to drive the police car to the hospital in order for him to make sure the baby was okay.

Mayor Wilda Diaz swears in Police Officer Leonel Tejera as his mother Carmen holds the bible. Ken Puccio looks on.
*Photos by Paul W. Wang