NYPD recruit just three months into his cop training dies at 23 of leukemia
An NYPD recruit with dreams of becoming a cop died early Tuesday following a short battle with leukemia, police said.
Jake Siciliano, 23, was three months into his NYPD training when he was diagnosed with the deadly disease.
The Long Island man died at Mount Sinai Hospital Tuesday — a month after he was admitted, his fiancée said.
“God needed an NYPD officer in heaven, baby,” Ashlee Ragusano wrote in a heartfelt message on Facebook Tuesday. “Do what you do best.”
Siciliano and Ragusano were engaged on Oct. 1, just weeks before he received the fatal diagnosis.
“We had an amazing 3 years, 7 months, and 4 days together,” Ragusano wrote. “You changed my life for the better, and I would not change a single thing.”
Siciliano graduated Lynbrook High School in 2012 and played Lacrosse for Nassau Community College before joining the NYPD.
He was one of 524 NYPD recruits sworn in on July 5 — a day after Police Officer Miosotis Familia was killed in the Bronx.
Siciliano was considered to be on active duty, even after he was hospitalized, police sources said.
Supporters raised more than $17,000 for Siciliano’s medical expenses on a Gofundme page set up by friends.
