A 25-year-old off-duty NYPD officer from Brooklyn who dreamed of one day becoming a detective was laid to rest Sunday morning, a week after the high-speed, one-car crash along FDR Drive that ended his life.
Garman Chen, who worked out of the 76th Precinct in Carrol Gardens and lived in Midwood, was memorialized in a tearful service at the Aievoli Funeral Home in Bensonhurst, with several hundred fellow police officers in attendance on the rainy morning.
Chen was apparently driving at “at a high rate of speed” northbound on the FDR Drive near East 23rd Street at about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 when he lost control of his black 2016 Lexus, striking a barrier pole supporting a pedestrian footbridge, police officials said. Two of his passengers were ejected from the vehicle, one an off-duty firefighter who was seriously injured, and a woman who’s foot was severed in the crash.
“He was passionate and at the same time very personable,” said Faith Davis, a close friend of Chen. “He was a great friend because he listened, and was patient – he was always put together – and was there for me.”
“He was the best friend of my son,” said his neighbor George, who didn’t give his last name. “He was always very kind. I know him more than 20 years and he will be missed.”
Chen graduated from Midwood High School and had been with the NYPD just three years. A NYPD honor guard carried his body out of the funeral home and placed the casket into a hearse. They then presented his tearful family with the NYPD flag that draped the casket. Chen’s father bowed to the officers as they lined up and saluted their fallen brother.
Kenneth Larkin, 25, an off-duty FDNY firefighter assigned to Ladder Co. 10 in Manhattan who suffered body trauma, and Amanda Remy, 25, whose right foot was severed, police sources said. Both are said to both be still in Bellevue Hospital. Remy was said to be dating the officer and Larkin, was said to be in the department only three months.
