Thursday, October 23, 2008 5:33 AM EDT
By William Kaempffer, Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — In a brief, somber ceremony, the Police Department added the name of Officer Dario “Scott” Aponte Wednesday to its memorial wall of officers who have died in the line of duty.
Aponte was killed Sept. 10 when the cruiser he was driving collided with another cruiser while responding to a 911 call about a domestic assault.
The officer from the other vehicle, Diane Gonzalez, remains hospitalized at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She has not regained consciousness.
The black bunting that covered Aponte’s photo was moved aside Wednesday as his widow, Donna Aponte, also a city cop, arrived with her sons, parents and a priest. She bent down and wept as she touched his picture and small plaque explaining how he died, comforted by Capt. Denise Blanchard.
Aponte did not speak to the media, but in a statement released later, she expressed her “heartfelt gratitude,” calling the memorial a tribute to her husband and to the police officers who gave their lives for the community they serve. She also asked that the roadside memorial, erected at the crash site at Chapel and East streets, be removed. She had obtained all the items that were placed there by the public and said she will keep them as a constant reminder of how many lives her husband touched as a police officer.
About 50 colleagues filled the lobby at police headquarters for the ceremony.
“She really appreciates that Scott is not forgotten,” said Lt. Ariel Melendez, who knew the fallen officer for the better part of four decades, and helped the family with the funeral arrangements.
Donna Aponte worked for Melendez as a rookie in the neighborhood he supervised, and he recalled the day Dario Aponte stopped and inquired about the new officer with whom he went on a recent call.
Melendez suggested that he ask her out for a cup of coffee.
“If there’s any comfort, it’s knowing that the department recognized him as an officer who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Melendez said.
The memorial wall was dedicated in early September, replacing what had been a hodgepodge of pictures, a week before Aponte died.
At the time, there were 19 officers in two rows. There was one empty spot, an “imbalance” that city engineer Bill MacMullen, who designed the memorial wall, said at the time he hoped would remain forever.
“I never thought it would be so soon,” he said after Wednesday’s ceremony.
William Kaempffer can be reached at 789-5727 or wkaempffer@nhregister.com.
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