By: Daniella Doria
A beloved Port Authority Police officer who was also a former Major League Baseball player for the Atlanta Braves is being remembered by family, friends, and colleagues after being hit and killed by a car going the wrong way.
Officer Anthony Varvaro, 37 — a Staten Island native, was on his way to work the 9/11 memorial service when he was hit by the other vehicle. Varvaro pitched for six years in the major leagues before officially retiring and following his law enforcement dreams.
A Toyota Rav4 struck Varvaro in a Nissan Maxima head-on causing the Nissan to strike the right concrete barrier on the New Jersey Turnpike in Hudson County, authorities said.
Varvaro was struck by Henry A. Plaras, 30, of Bridgewater, who was heading west on the Hudson Bay Extension in the eastbound lanes around 4:25 a.m. in Jersey City, New Jersey State Police Trooper Charles Marchan said.
The crash remains under investigation.
After completing training, Varvaro’s first assignment was a duty at the World Trade Center Command.
“He was a real sweetheart,” said a Staten Island baseball coach, in an exclusive report to The New York Post, whose team had played against kids coached by Varvaro. “He didn’t have an attitude. You would never know that he pitched in the Major Leagues,” the coach said of the cop. The source said the cop helped children learn the game in his off time. “He loved coaching and teaching the kids.”
In a statement Sunday, Frank Conti, president of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, said the union was “shocked and saddened” by the veteran cop’s tragic death. “Anthony’s life was taken from us as he prepared to honor the lives of the 37 Port Authority police officers who perished on Sept. 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center,” Conti said.
“Police Officer Anthony Varvaro will always be honored and never forgotten.” He called Varvaro “a child of Staten Island, where he grew up among the families of fallen 9/11 police officers and firefighters.”
“The entire Port Authority family is heartbroken to learn of the tragic passing of Officer Anthony Varvaro,” said PA Chairman Kevin O’Toole and Executive Director Rick Cotton in a joint statement Sunday.
“Officer Varvaro represented the very best of this agency and will be remembered for his courage and commitment to service,” they said. “On behalf of the agency, we send our deepest condolences to Officer Varvaro’s wife, Kerry, his four children and his family and friends.”
“We are deeply saddened on the passing of former Braves pitcher Anthony Varvaro,” the Braves said in a Twitter post Sunday. “Anthony, 37, played parts of six seasons in the majors, including four with Atlanta. He voluntarily retired from MLB in 2016 to become a Port Authority police officer.”
