A 21-year veteran of the NYPD has died after a battle with COVID-19, officials said Sunday.
“The NYPD family is grieving today as we announce the passing of Officer Leonardo Chavez, whose battle w/ #COVID ended yesterday,” Police Commissioner Dermott Shea said on his Twitter account.
“Leonardo, his loved ones, & colleagues are forever in our prayers. His 21 years of service & dedication to the people of NYC will never be forgotten.”
Chavez, 50, joined the department in 2000 and spent his entire career assigned to the department’s Transit Bureau, police sources said. He has been assigned to the bureau’s Special Operations District since 2016.
He is believed to be the 61st member of the department to die from the illness.
Last month, Police Officer Sony Clerge, who was assigned to the Transit Borough Manhattan Task Force, also died from the virus. He was a 19-year NYPD veteran.
The majority of the NYPD’s coronavirus fatalities were civilian employees with the department.
The department has struggled to get above a 50-percent immunization rate, even though officers were one of the first groups OKed to get the shot earlier this year.
As of last month, the vaccination rate was at about 47 percent for its just under 35,000 uniformed officers and nearly 18,000 civilian members, according to the NYPD.
