In Memoriam: Carmin J. Fuscellaro Jr.
Sergeant Carmin J. Fuscellaro Jr., Camden Police Department
Carmin J. Fuscellaro Jr. was born in Camden on July 11, 1926, the son of Camden Police officer Carmin Fuscellaro Sr. He grew up at 834 North 30th Street in Cramer Hill, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1944. After serving with the United States Army Air Force, Carmin Fuscellaro Jr. joined the Camden Police Department on July 17, 1949. His brother George Fuscellaro was a Camden firefighter at the time, serving with Engine Company 11 on North 27th Street in Cramer Hill. Carmin Fuscellaro Jr. married Nancy Gleeson in 1955. They were making their home at 228 South 32nd Street in East Camden when the 1956 New Jersey Bell Telephone directory was compiled.
Known to his brother officers as “Fussy,” Sergeant Fuscellaro was very progressive during his 12-year career with the Camden Police Department. He was instrumental in the formation of the accident investigation unit and heavy duty rescue unit. Once this unit was in operation he turned his attention to the formation of a K-9 unit, of which he was in command at the time of his death on February 4, 1961.
Sergeant Fuscellaro died of shotgun wounds he received during a jail escape, at the old Camden County Jail on the 6th floor of City Hall, Camden, NJ. He was accidentally shot and killed by another officer when he was mistaken for an escaped prisoner. Sergeant Fuscellaro and his canine partner were searching City Hall when the other officer shot him. At the time of the shooting, canine officers and the inmates wore the same type of coveralls. He was survived by his wife.
Carmin Fuscellaro Jr. was buried with full military honors at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, New Jersey.
Woodrow Wilson High School 1944 Yearbook
Woodrow Wilson High School Class of 1944 yearbook photograph of Carmin J. Fuscellaro Jr.
New Patrolmen Appointed
Camden Courier-Post —
SIGNING ON AS a new patrolman is William Bennett, 27, of 313 North Eleventh Street. Watching are Director of Public Safety Rhone, Police Judge DiMona, and Police Chief Johnson.
New officers, grouped from left to right, are James J. Large, William J. Miller, William C. Lewis, Edward W. Campbell, Carmin J. Fuscellaro, Charles W. Richards, Robert J. Kelly, and Franciesco Senatore.
Youth Has Blackjack; Held for Grand Jury
Camden Courier-Post —
A South Camden youth, arrested early today in possession of a blackjack, was held for grand jury action by Judge DiMona at a police court hearing.
The prisoner, Clarence Russell, 19, of 236 Mt. Vernon Street, testified he found the weapon while walking home. Patrolman Carmen Fuscellaro said he arrested Russell shortly after receiving a complaint of a fight at Locust and Sycamore streets.
A telephoned report said a man was flourishing a gun there, the officer said. Police also found eight .32 calibre bullets on Russell.
Sleep Pills Overcome Woman Hotel Guest
Camden Courier-Post —
Mrs. Eleanor Shaw, 28, registered at the Hotel Plaza, Fifth and Cooper streets, was admitted to Cooper Hospital late Friday night after taking an overdose of sleeping tablets, according to Camden police.
Detectives Milton Cahill and William O’Brien placed a police detainer against the woman, pending treatment, for a hearing.
Dr. Herbert Weinberg, 563 Benson Street, hotel physician, said he was called to the hotel late last night after the woman was found lying unconscious on the floor.
Beside the woman was an empty bottle of sleeping tablets, the doctor said. After preliminary examination she was ordered to the hospital, where she was taken by Patrolmen William Miller and Carman Fuscellaro.
Body of Man Found In Haddon Ave. Room
Camden Courier-Post —
Joseph Leaming, 68, was found dead Monday night in his apartment at 3 Haddon Ave.
Acting Sgt. Joseph DiTaranto and Ptl. Carmin Fuscellaro Jr. said the body was discovered by John Mackin, of 201 S. 6th St., a friend who had come to visit Leaming.
Coroner Blake said an autopsy will be performed today at Cooper Hospital.
Sgt. Fuscellaro and the Camden Police K-9 Unit
Sgt. Carmin Fuscellaro Jr. with the Camden Police K-9 unit, 1950s. “Don’t Jaywalk.”
Patrolman on Manhunt Kills Police Sergeant by Mistake
Seattle Daily Times —
CAMDEN, N. J., Feb. 4 —(A.P.)— One of the many patrolmen searching Camden’s 18-story City Hall for an escaped prisoner shot and killed a police sergeant today by mistake.
The sergeant, Carmen Fuscellaro, 33, was shot as he lunged off balance through a doorway after pushing too hard on the door, which was stuck.
Fuscellaro had been working with a German shepherd along a dark fourth-floor corridor.
“I’ve just shot Carmen,” shouted Patrolman Dennis Evans, 28, as he burst into a room where reporters were gathered. “Get the police. Get an ambulance. Get a priest.”
Evans, mistaking Fuscellaro for Donald Murphy, the 29-year-old fugitive, had fired a 12-gauge riot gun from four feet away.
The prisoner was being held in the City Hall jail on the sixth floor for trial on an auto-theft charge when he escaped.
Policeman Shoots Cop In Accident
Trenton Times —
CAMDEN —AP— Sergeant Carmen Fuscellaro, 34, was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow policeman yesterday as they searched City Hall for an escaped prisoner.
Fuscellaro, in charge of a dog detail, was not in uniform. He was wearing trousers similar in type to that worn by jail inmates.
Patrolman Dennis Evans shot Fuscellaro in the chest as the sergeant moved out of a darkened corner of a fourth-floor corridor. He was dead on arrival at Cooper Hospital.
Minutes after the shooting the search for Donald Murphy, 29, of Philadelphia, was called off in the 18-story building.
A taxicab driver, Robert Helms, identified a picture of Murphy as the man he drove to Philadelphia shortly after the morning escape.
Murphy, a trustee at the jail awaiting trial on a charge of stealing an auto, pulled a gun on Harry Murray, 42, supervisor of guards.
He fired one shot at Murray when the guard refused to unlock a door. Police said they didn’t know where Murphy obtained the weapon. He was still at large at a late hour last night.
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Policeman Kills Mate
Trenton Times —
CAMDEN —AP— Edward C. Garrity, director of public safety, says no disciplinary action is planned against a Camden policeman who accidentally shot and killed another officer during a hunt for a jail escapee who is still at large. A 13-state alarm is out for the escapee.
Officials said patrolman Dennis Evans, 28, shot and killed Sgt. Carmen Fuscellaro, 33, who was dressed in dungarees similar to those worn by escapee Donald Murphy, 29, in the semi-dark corridor of a fourth floor in the Camden City Hall-Court House.
Detectives said Murphy, a trusty, escaped Saturday from the jail on the sixth floor after he stole keys from a desk drawer, unlocked a cabinet and took a pistol and forced a guard to open the main jail door.
Evans and Fuscellaro were members of a search party combing the 18-floor structure during the manhunt. Investigators said that Dennis, seeing Fuscellaro come through a door, fired a shot from a riot gun in belief that the police sergeant was Murphy.
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