Corrections Officer George Paszkowski

George Paszkowski

Corrections Officer George Paszkowski was shot and killed as he and two other officers attempted to apprehend bank robbers in Bayway.

The officers were transporting two prisoners from Yardville State Reformatory to the Union County Courthouse when they observed five masked men exiting a bank at 920 South Elmora Avenue in Bayway. When Officer Paszkowski, along with the other officers, attempted to apprehend the suspects, he was fatally shot.

Two suspects 41 and 27 were apprehended the same day. Another two 47 and 25 were apprehended a week later by FBI agents in Miami, Florida. The fifth suspect was never apprehended. All four were convicted of murder and sentenced to life.

During the first week in January of 1976 the torso of a man was found in a vacant lot in Elizabeth. His head and arms were found the next day in a suitcase in New York City. An investigation led to the arrest of a New Jersey Penitentiary inmate who was released on a three pass the same week the victim was discovered. The 41-year-old convicted of Officer Paszkowski's murder had paid the inmate to kill the man at his home in Elizabeth because he was bothering his girlfriend. Officer Paszkowski's murderer, charged with conspiracy to commit murder, was denied parole in 1997.

Officer Paszkowski was survived by his wife and 3-year-old son.

A reserve officer for the Elizabeth Police Department who bought a winning lottery ticket while waiting to donate blood to Officer Paszkowski before he passed away gave a large portion of the $100,000 winnings to Officer Paszkowski's widow.