Ny B30 Pa Police Reports 1 Of 2 Fdr- Dilena- Det Sgt Raymond

THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NY & N.I

TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT:

Chief Joseph Morris Detective Sergeant Raymond DiLena March 6, 2002

REFERENCE:

September 11,2001

Memorandum

COPY TO: On Sept 11,2001 I was working a 7x3 tour at JFK Airport. I first learned of the attack moments after when Detective Edward Rapp entered the squad room and told me. Looking out the window I could see heavy smoke coming from one tower. I then gathered all the available manpower within the Detective Unit. All hands would respond knowing that replacements would come in from home. I gathered our crime scene equipment that I thought would be useful. I responded in vehicle 250-1. Detective Snyder was the driver and Detective Sergeant's Perdomo and Bomengo were also in the vehicle. At this point I tried to find out what had happened. I telephoned the FAA Regional Control Center. About this time we noticed a huge fireball erupt and obscure both towers from our vantage point. When the flames dissipated you could now see that both towers were afire. When I saw papers falling to earth on the Brooklyn side of the Battery Tunnel I instruct Detective Snyder to stop the vehicle and retrieve one thinking it may have been some type of leaflets dropped. We exited the Tunnel and drove north on West Street parking in the left lane a few blocks south of the WTC Complex. I noticed the lampposts were sheared off and body parts littered the street. A section of the landing gear proved to me that this was a commercial airliner. Upon exiting the vehicle Detective Molina informed us that NYPD Citywide put out a report that a third aircraft was approaching and that persons unknown were shooting from the Woolworth Building. We headed down a side street still south of the complex. While we were trying to get closer to the building we redirected pedestrians who were actually coming up from the subway walking toward Tower 2. At this point Det. Lt. Podolak redirected me to FBI Headquarters at 26 Federal Plaza because I had FBI credentials to gain access. While approximately two blocks away from Tower 2 I heard a roar of what I describe as a jet engine at full power. Looking up I saw a huge cloud of dust and ran away from the debris. I did not know for quite some time that there had been a full collapse of Tower 2. As we neared the FBI Building we learned that it was being evacuated and locked down. There was no communications as all of our radios went dead with the collapse of Tower 2. We then returned to West St. north of Tower #1 searching for our command post. I remember looking up at Tower 1 hearing what I can best describe as muffled roar. I then observed the two comers of PORT AUTHORITY POLICE Pride

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Memorandum

tower 1 that faced me pull away from the building at opposing angles and the building start to come straight down. I ran north on West St. and came into contact with a number of our Officers. While trying to regroup I started writing down the names of Officers that I had seen and knew to be alive. I still have the business card that I wrote the names on. Now that I collected the names I walked to the auditorium where I was told we were regrouping. While walking toward the auditorium there was some type of explosion across the street and resulted in the auditorium being evacuated. We then went to a high school gym were our command center would remain. We still had many persons unaccounted for and Sgt. Perdomo and I set out toward the site trying to locate some of our troops, which we thought could be on the other side (south) of the site. I remember going to Barclay St. by the parking lot entrance and seeing the devastation. Due to the dust and smoke we retreated due to the fact that at this early stage there was no protective breathing equipment available. The rest of the day went by so fast. I remember feeling helpless. We were in this auditorium and we could not get near the site. I went down numerous times to see if anything could be done, but there was little rescue work taking place. There was some confusion as to who was missing. Shawn Russell and Pete Johnson were mentioned to me as being at the scene. I was able to contact the Kennedy police desk and clear up exactly who was at JFK and I learned that Peter and Shawn were safe at home. Sometime in the early afternoon Del. Michael Molina reported to me that George Howard was confirmed dead. During one of my walks down to the site I met with a Captain from Hicksville Fire Department whom I knew George was a member of. After checking with the Captain McClancy that notifications to the Howard family were made the Fire Captain was told. This was a day that was very overwhelming to the senses.'Although I was with other people during these events it seems we all recall different sights and sounds. The vehicle I responded in, Vehicle # 2501 was inaccessible and damaged to make it irretrievable. I returned to JFK at 2300 hours transported there by a civilian vehicle.

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