EMT kin hit ‘unfit’ ruling
Yadira fam upset ‘smirking’ susp not put on trial
The family of slain FDNY Emergency Medical Technician Yadira Arroyo is hurt and disappointed by a Bronx judge’s ruling last week that her accused killer is mentally unfit to stand trial.
For five years, since Arroyo was killed in 2017 under the wheels of her ambulance, her relatives have waited for defendant Jose Gonzalez to be held accountable for his alleged crimes. But those hopes were dashed with the ruling, and they said they’re left with only the pain of her brutal death.
“We were extremely saddened and disappointed because we were expecting that when we went there that day that the decision was going to be ruled that we were going to be going to trial,” Arroyo’s aunt, Ali Acevedo-Hernandez, said at the FDNY Medal Day ceremony at City Hall on Wednesday.
“It felt like a blow to us. It was really disappointing, it was painful because it’s like we’re putting our life on hold.”
Faithfully, Arroyo’s family has been attending hearings and court dates, hoping for movement on a case that had been stuck on judicial hold.
“People say, well, he’s serving time,” Acevedo-Hernandez said. “Yes, but he hasn’t been tried by the law. He hasn’t stood up for what he did. Every time we go there, he has this smirk on his face, like when the judge was telling him he was going to be going to the hospital, the smirk was on his face. It was too much to bear.
“I just got up and left,” she said. “A lot of EMTs did that. They just got up and left.”
Prosecutors said Arroyo, a 44-year-old mother of five, died on March 16, 2017, after a man allegedly high on PCP jumped on Arroyo’s rear bumper in Soundview. Cops said that when she stepped out of the ambulance to investigate, Gonzalez slid behind the wheel and took off.
He ran her over twice and dragged her into the intersection of White Plains Road and Watson Ave. while her partner desperately tried to stop him, prosecutors said.
Arroyo was a 14-year department veteran.
Members of her family were at City Hall to see her colleagues receive new medals of valor that were named in Arroyo’s honor.
The Yadira Arroyo Medal was proudly hung around the necks of an EMS lieutenant and two EMTS who risked their lives last year to disarm an irate man who was using a Taser and a pair of scissors to attack a worker at a pharmacy in the Bronx.
EMS Lt. Dwight Scott and EMTs Christopher Juanilla and Tiffany Robledo, who were cleaning their ambulance across the street on Dec. 29, rushed into action when a growing crowd alerted them that a man inside the drugstore was attacking customers and employees.
With no time to wait for police, Scott and Robledo quickly disabled the attacker while Juanilla triaged the injured customers and called for backup.
They were among many firefighters, fire marshals, paramedics and EMTs who were recognized for their lifesaving sacrifices.
“I am proud to honor New York’s Bravest today for their tremendous acts of valor and bravery protecting our city,” Mayor Adams said. “When we needed heroes, the men and women of the FDNY answered the call, putting their lives on the line to keep New Yorkers safe. On behalf of 8.8 million New Yorkers, thank you to the firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, fire marshals and all of the FDNY members who run towards danger instead of away from it every day to protect our city.”
Those honored included members of Ladder Co. 41 for rescuing six people from a fire in the Bronx.
“The heroic, lifesaving actions of New York City firefighters are on display each and every time they answer a call,” said Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY-Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York.
“While each and every response of fire officers makes this city safer, today, we have the good fortune of recognizing a few of these extraordinary actions that display lifesaving bravery and courage,” said FDNY-Fire Officers Association President James McCarthy.