An NYPD sergeant — on the job for 36 more years after he was shot, along with five other cops, in 1986 by a drug kingpin dubbed “Loco Larry’’ — is officially retired.
Sgt. John O’Hara, a 42-year veteran who was with the Emergency Service Unit’s Truck-3 at the time of the wild shootout, was given a standing ovation by more than 200 friends, family and members of the force during his ceremonial department walkout from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn Friday.
“It’s bittersweet,” O’Hara told reporters. “I have enjoyed my career. I’ve enjoyed the people I worked along with. I will miss them. But I know I’m going on to another chapter in my life with more time for my family.”
O’Hara was part of a squad sent to arrest “Loco Larry” — felon Larry Davis, who later became known as Adam Abdul-Hakeem — in November 1986 when bullets flew at the Bronx apartment of Davis’ sister..
Davis grabbed a pistol and a shotgun and fired at O’Hara and eight other NYPD cops who came to bust him for allegedly rubbing out five drug dealers.
O’Hara and the officers returned fire — but were forced to stop when Davis used young children as human shields. Davis managed to escape through a window after wounding six cops.
After a 17-day nationwide manhunt, Davis surrendered.
“O’Hara was shot in the face, right arm and hand during the chaotic scene,” said a biography for the veteran cop on the website for the NYPD’s Emerald Society, an Irish-American organization.
“He credits Sgt. Eddie Coulter the ESU supervisor for saving him from further injury, as Coulter in spite of his own injuries grabbed O’Hara’s vest and pulled him from the line of fire.”
“Miraculously the young children were not injured as shot after shot exploded in the bloody mayhem,” the bio reads.
“O’Hara’s and his team used incredible restraint in not returning gunfire. They placed themselves in great peril with their concern for the children. Their bravery while under fire was truly incredible.”
After his recovery, O’Hara returned to full duty with Truck-3 before transferring to the Aviation Unit, where he became a pilot, according to the online profile.
“He has been flying high above New York City since 1987, as a member of the Aviation Unit,” the profile reads. “Since being promoted 1998 he has been airborne with his chevrons, supervising the NYPD helicopter crews out of Floyd Bennett Field.”
He joined the NYPD in 1981, following in the footsteps of his father and three uncles.
Davis – who claimed he had fired at the cops in self-defense – was acquitted of attempted murder, but convicted on weapons charges and sentenced to five to 15 years behind bars.
He was stabbed to death in 2008 by another inmate at an upstate prison, where he was serving time for the 1991 murder of a Bronx drug dealer — for which he was convicted in 1991.