100 Club Of Buffalo

Kyle Schraufstetter/Amherst Police Officer

The Amherst Police Department responds to several vehicle accidents every day. On March 18, 2006, Officer Kyle Schraufstetter responded to the report of a motor vehicle accident on South Ellicott Creek Road. He was the first to arrive at the scene and found a car had hit a tree, a pole and another car and was now flames. The driver had suffered a head injury in the crash was trapped inside the burning car.

Officer Schraufstetter grabbed a fire extinguisher and began to extinguish the fire in an attempt to rescue the trapped driver. The fire extinguisher quickly was used up but the fire roared on. He ran back to his car, grabbed another extinguisher and continued battling the flames. Despite the intense heat and potentially explosive situation he again approached the car with a third extinguisher.

Officer Schraufstetter’s attempts to save another person’s life at the risk of his own were courageous and selfless.

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Assistant Fire Chief Dan E. Marohn / Tonawanda Fire Department

Children playing on ice can be a recipe for disaster. On March 5, 2006, the Tonawanda Fire Department received a call that two children were playing on the ice. Moments later this call was upgraded. The children had fallen through. Assistant Chief Daniel E. Marohn raced to the scene and was the first to arrive. Marohn knew he had to act quickly. He grabbed a tree branch and held it out to the children for them to grab on to. The branch soon broke. He knew the children couldn't wait. Marohn was forced to crawl out onto the ice to reach them. He was able to reach one of the children by the pant leg but the ice fell beneath him and Marohn also fell into the icy water. Fortunately he was able to lift the two children onto a solid ice patch. The children were brought safely to shore by an assisting police officer and firefighters now on the scene.

As a result of the heroic efforts of Assistant Chief Daniel E. Marohn, two young lives were saved, and the children have learned a lesson they won’t soon forget.

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New York State Trooper Ronald V. Wolf
New York State Tropper Kevin J. Jordon

The report came in as a man who accidentally discharged a firearm while cleaning it and wounded his leg. Troopers Ronald V. Wolf and Kevin J. Jordon were dispatched to the residence on August 1, 2005 and discovered that the situation was much more serious. The man was highly intoxicated man, who a bullet wound in his leg and was visibly suicidal, holding a revolver to his head.

Trooper Wolf engaged the man in a conversation and gained his trust by recalling an investigation that he had helped him with in the past. The troopers tried to persuade the man to give up his gun so that they could take care of his wounds. The man told the troopers if they walked over to him that they would not be harmed. Trooper Wolf explained to that man that he was not sure of his state of mind and could not take that chance. The troopers spoke with the man over the course of an hour, during which time he constantly pointed the gun under his chin and then to his chest. The man then took the gun away from his chest and grabbed it by barrel. Trooper Wolf courageously moved about 20 feet closer while Trooper Jordan and other deputies covered. Finally the man told Trooper Wolf he would hand over his gun. Trooper Wolf cautiously approached the man and took the weapon.

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Captain Michael Tuberdyke
Firefighter Ronaldo Parker
Firefighter Sean Eagen

One of a firefighter’s worse nightmares is to arrive at a building fire and learn people are still inside.

On July 23, 2006 Captain Michael Tuberdyke, Firefighters Ronaldo Parker and Sean Eagen arrived at the scene of a house fire to and learned that there was someone inside. The house was fully involved but the officer and firefighters got right to work performing a search and rescue. Captain Tuberdyke reached the second story and found a women lying on the floor in one of the bedrooms. He immediately called for help and was joined by Firefighters Ronaldo and Eagen who carried the woman down the stairs and out of the home to safety. The women remains in the

As a result of their quick and decisive actions this woman was saved.

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Crossing Guard Kristen Masecchia

Kristen Masecchia proved that crossing guards truly guard our children. At the start of the 2005 school year crossing guard for St. Mark’s Elementary School in Buffalo used her body as a human shield to protect the lives of four young children.

Mrs. Masecchia was directing four little girls across the street when she saw a 2002 Oldsmobile go through a red light. She yelled at the girls to run but was forced to take personal action. She leaped towards the girls in an effort to protect them, pushing two them out of harms way. She was struck in the back by the car and airlifted onto the hood along with one of the children and fell onto the pavement.

The children and Mrs. Masecchia suffered injuries ranging from lower back pain to some bumps and bruises. Had it not been for the heroic action of Mrs. Masecchia these four children might have been more seriously injured.

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