NYACK – Six Rockland students have been awarded a $1,000 scholarship in memory of the two police officers murdered in the 1981 Brinks robbery.
The O’Grady-Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund has scheduled its annual scholarship awards breakfast for 10 a.m. June 1 at the Nyack Seaport.
The annual breakfast and scholarships are held to “acknowledge these students and let them know that this memorial scholarship, founded to perpetuate the goals, aspirations, and ideals that characterize these two tragically slain Nyack police officers, continue to live on through its recipients,” said Robert Van Cura, who chairs the scholarship fund. Van Cura is also a Rockland undersheriff and former South Nyack Grand View police chief.
The scholarships were started in 1991 to honor Nyack Police Sgt. Edward O’Grady and Officer Waverly “Chipper” Brown. High school seniors interested in law enforcement careers apply for the awards.
Chosen for 2024:
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O’Grady and Brown were killed on Oct. 20, 1981, at a roadblock on the New York State Thruway entrance ramp off Route 59 in Nyack. Police established the roadblock as they searched for the gunmen who robbed a Brinks armored car at the Nanuet mall.
At the roadblock, six men with automatic weapons jumped from the back of a U-Haul. O’Grady and Brown were killed, while Detective Arthur Arthur Keenan was grazed across the stomach and Brian Lennon was injured.
The Thruway shootings came less than an hour after a Brinks armored car was robbed of $1.6 million by a gang of self-professed revolutionaries. Brinks security guard Peter Paige was murdered during the robbery while his partner Joseph Trombino was wounded.
A yearly remembrance ceremony for the two officers and Paige is held on Oct. 20 at the memorial site on Mountainview Avenue. The post office building on Broadway in Nyack is named for O’Grady and Brown, whose names are etched into monuments in New City and Washington, D.C., for officers killed in the line of duty.
Additional information about the Scholarship Fund can be found at www.ogradybrown.com.
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com Twitter: @lohudlegal
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