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TOP COP: Hialeah Police Lt. Leo Thalassites stands in front of Hialeah City Hall. He was recently honored as the oldest active duty police officer in the United States.
TOP COP: Hialeah Police Lt. Leo Thalassites stands in front of Hialeah City Hall. He was recently honored as the oldest active duty police officer in the United States.
Gazette Photo/THEO KARANTSALIS / FREELANCE
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By THEO KARANTSALIS
River Cities Gazette
As soon as he felt a gun barrel poke his ribs, the cop broke out his fists of fury to crack ribs, knock out teeth and fracture a thug?s skull.
Not bad for an officer well into his 80s.
?I love to fight guys who are bigger than I am,? said Hialeah Police Lt. Leo Thalassites, 86, as he recalled fending off a robber outside a Greek restaurant in Coral Gables in 2010.
He disarmed the 6-foot-2, 250-pound ?punk? and then beat him unconscious. ?For more than half a century, I have taught officers to always be ready.?
Three generations of police officials were indeed ready, two weeks ago, when they crowded into Hialeah City Hall to honor the hulking Thalassites for being America?s oldest active cop.
The International Police Association confirmed that Thalassites is indeed the oldest active law enforcement officer in the United States.
A cross between Clint Eastwood and Jackie Chan, the barrel-chested Thalassites is a mixed-martial arts dynamo who started his police career with what was then known as the Metro-Dade Police Department in 1956. He transferred to Hialeah Police in 1963, and state records show he has been active with the department ever since.
His current duties consist of training officers to make sure they are physically fit and ready for action.
?He was my training advisor in the ?70s,? said Miami Springs Police Capt. John Kahn, who recalled a tough regimen that included being ?run to death.? ?I still wouldn?t want to meet him in a dark alley.?
Kahn said he has always admired Thalassites? commitment to the law enforcement profession.
?Though I didn?t have Leo as a training instructor at the academy in 1974, he was well known,? said Chief Pete Baan. ?He was very dedicated and he didn?t take any fooling around.?
A tremendous athlete, Baan added, Thalassites was known for being very strict during training.
?I spent a lot of time in Miami Springs,? said Thalassites, who recalled dropping by the police station in the ?60s, ?70s, ?80s and ?90s, to mix it up with veteran officers. ?We used to meet for lunch at the Garden Restaurant on Westward Drive.?
And one of his former colleagues from Hialeah PD went on to achieve legendary status in Springs.
?I worked with Leo at Hialeah PD in 1964 and 1965,? said Don Mazzone, a retired Springs motorcycle officer, known about town as the ?nightmare in your rearview mirror.? ?He is a great man and a great friend.?
Aside from Hialeah, Thalassites said he has touched officers either ?directly or indirectly? in Virginia Gardens and Medley, too. His reach was even felt at the Miami-Dade Police Department.
?Leo put a lot of police officers on the mat,? said Bill McQuay, of Miami Springs, a retired Miami-Dade police officer who decades ago had Thalassites as a physical training instructor. ?He was very serious about physical fitness.?
Police officers from all over the county last week shared laughs and took turns roasting Thalassites, as he just stood there, grizzled and stone-faced.
Norman Grad, a retired Hialeah police officer, drew cheers as he read aloud a 2010 Miami Herald article about how Thalassites ?beat down? a mugger after leaving a Greek restaurant near Southwest Eight Street.
Many officers joked ? at a distance ? and shared stories about Thalassites that included:
? He never rests his hands in his pockets. Rather, he keeps them in ?striking position.?
? When he eats at a restaurant, he never sits near a window and always asks to meet with the chef.
? He never answers the phone or makes calls. Instead, he has others relay messages back to him.
Thalassites commutes to Hialeah City Hall ? 300 miles each way from Tampa ? a trip he makes three times a week. He moved to Tampa in 1995 to be closer to the thriving Greek community in Tarpon Springs.
?The history of this police department cannot be written without mentioning your name,? said Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, a martial arts enthusiast who once trained as a police officer under Thalassites. ?On behalf of the 250,000 citizens living in Hialeah, I proclaim Feb. 28 as Lt. Leo Thalassites Day.?
Thalassites served in World War II and Korea, and served in all five branches of the military ? Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Thalassites said he was fulfilling a personal mission.
?He?s a war hero,? said Hialeah Police Chief Mark Overton, who handed Thalassites a plaque that read ?oldest active police officer in America? that included his dates of service, a badge and a baton. ?Now don?t hit anybody with that.?
Though Thalassites carries a Colt .45 that was issued to him in the Korean War, he has never had to use it on duty. Rather, he has always relied on something far more dangerous, according to Hialeah Police Lt. Carl Zogby, ?fists that are weapons of mass destruction.?
Zogby added that Thalassites earned three Purple Hearts ? two in WWII and one in Korea ? and competed in the Olympics trials for the 1964 Tokyo Games, representing the U.S. in Greco-Roman wrestling. Last year, he was named to the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.
The one thing no one joked about is his unfailing belief in God. His father, George Thalassites, was a seventh-generation priest who served Miami?s Greek community in the 1940s. He also taught combat fighting to elite Greek soldiers.
The younger Thalassites couldn?t learn to write Greek well enough to be a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, so his father gave him two tasks as he pursued an alternate path in life: Put Jesus first before anything else in life and take care of your body.
Since then, Thalassites has risen at 4 a.m. every day to pray. Then he runs a few miles, lifts weights and punches a heavy bag before eating measured portions of chicken and vegetables. He has maintained the same weight, 178 pounds, for more than 50 years.
He has 11 children and has been married twice. After divorcing his first wife, he married his second wife, Cora, 20 years ago.
Hialeah last honored him 10 years ago when it named the police gym after him.
?I want to give all the glory to my lord and savior Jesus Christ,? said Thalassites, with friends and officials by his side as he recited passages from the Bible, including John 3:16 and Psalm 23.
He showed a rare lighter side as he joked that Miami Springs police might see more of him in the future now that a Greek deli has opened ? across from the police station.
Thalassites has been friends with Paul Meletis, owner of the newly opened My Little Greek Deli, for decades.
?I need to go by and make sure the food is authentic,? Thalassites said.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.co...s-has.html#storylink=cpy
TOP COP: Hialeah Police Lt. Leo Thalassites stands in front of Hialeah City Hall. He was recently honored as the oldest active duty police officer in the United States.
Gazette Photo/THEO KARANTSALIS / FREELANCE
Upload and share your own.
You can share related videos and photos.
Submit: Video Pictures
By THEO KARANTSALIS
River Cities Gazette
As soon as he felt a gun barrel poke his ribs, the cop broke out his fists of fury to crack ribs, knock out teeth and fracture a thug?s skull.
Not bad for an officer well into his 80s.
?I love to fight guys who are bigger than I am,? said Hialeah Police Lt. Leo Thalassites, 86, as he recalled fending off a robber outside a Greek restaurant in Coral Gables in 2010.
He disarmed the 6-foot-2, 250-pound ?punk? and then beat him unconscious. ?For more than half a century, I have taught officers to always be ready.?
Three generations of police officials were indeed ready, two weeks ago, when they crowded into Hialeah City Hall to honor the hulking Thalassites for being America?s oldest active cop.
The International Police Association confirmed that Thalassites is indeed the oldest active law enforcement officer in the United States.
A cross between Clint Eastwood and Jackie Chan, the barrel-chested Thalassites is a mixed-martial arts dynamo who started his police career with what was then known as the Metro-Dade Police Department in 1956. He transferred to Hialeah Police in 1963, and state records show he has been active with the department ever since.
His current duties consist of training officers to make sure they are physically fit and ready for action.
?He was my training advisor in the ?70s,? said Miami Springs Police Capt. John Kahn, who recalled a tough regimen that included being ?run to death.? ?I still wouldn?t want to meet him in a dark alley.?
Kahn said he has always admired Thalassites? commitment to the law enforcement profession.
?Though I didn?t have Leo as a training instructor at the academy in 1974, he was well known,? said Chief Pete Baan. ?He was very dedicated and he didn?t take any fooling around.?
A tremendous athlete, Baan added, Thalassites was known for being very strict during training.
?I spent a lot of time in Miami Springs,? said Thalassites, who recalled dropping by the police station in the ?60s, ?70s, ?80s and ?90s, to mix it up with veteran officers. ?We used to meet for lunch at the Garden Restaurant on Westward Drive.?
And one of his former colleagues from Hialeah PD went on to achieve legendary status in Springs.
?I worked with Leo at Hialeah PD in 1964 and 1965,? said Don Mazzone, a retired Springs motorcycle officer, known about town as the ?nightmare in your rearview mirror.? ?He is a great man and a great friend.?
Aside from Hialeah, Thalassites said he has touched officers either ?directly or indirectly? in Virginia Gardens and Medley, too. His reach was even felt at the Miami-Dade Police Department.
?Leo put a lot of police officers on the mat,? said Bill McQuay, of Miami Springs, a retired Miami-Dade police officer who decades ago had Thalassites as a physical training instructor. ?He was very serious about physical fitness.?
Police officers from all over the county last week shared laughs and took turns roasting Thalassites, as he just stood there, grizzled and stone-faced.
Norman Grad, a retired Hialeah police officer, drew cheers as he read aloud a 2010 Miami Herald article about how Thalassites ?beat down? a mugger after leaving a Greek restaurant near Southwest Eight Street.
Many officers joked ? at a distance ? and shared stories about Thalassites that included:
? He never rests his hands in his pockets. Rather, he keeps them in ?striking position.?
? When he eats at a restaurant, he never sits near a window and always asks to meet with the chef.
? He never answers the phone or makes calls. Instead, he has others relay messages back to him.
Thalassites commutes to Hialeah City Hall ? 300 miles each way from Tampa ? a trip he makes three times a week. He moved to Tampa in 1995 to be closer to the thriving Greek community in Tarpon Springs.
?The history of this police department cannot be written without mentioning your name,? said Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, a martial arts enthusiast who once trained as a police officer under Thalassites. ?On behalf of the 250,000 citizens living in Hialeah, I proclaim Feb. 28 as Lt. Leo Thalassites Day.?
Thalassites served in World War II and Korea, and served in all five branches of the military ? Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Thalassites said he was fulfilling a personal mission.
?He?s a war hero,? said Hialeah Police Chief Mark Overton, who handed Thalassites a plaque that read ?oldest active police officer in America? that included his dates of service, a badge and a baton. ?Now don?t hit anybody with that.?
Though Thalassites carries a Colt .45 that was issued to him in the Korean War, he has never had to use it on duty. Rather, he has always relied on something far more dangerous, according to Hialeah Police Lt. Carl Zogby, ?fists that are weapons of mass destruction.?
Zogby added that Thalassites earned three Purple Hearts ? two in WWII and one in Korea ? and competed in the Olympics trials for the 1964 Tokyo Games, representing the U.S. in Greco-Roman wrestling. Last year, he was named to the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.
The one thing no one joked about is his unfailing belief in God. His father, George Thalassites, was a seventh-generation priest who served Miami?s Greek community in the 1940s. He also taught combat fighting to elite Greek soldiers.
The younger Thalassites couldn?t learn to write Greek well enough to be a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, so his father gave him two tasks as he pursued an alternate path in life: Put Jesus first before anything else in life and take care of your body.
Since then, Thalassites has risen at 4 a.m. every day to pray. Then he runs a few miles, lifts weights and punches a heavy bag before eating measured portions of chicken and vegetables. He has maintained the same weight, 178 pounds, for more than 50 years.
He has 11 children and has been married twice. After divorcing his first wife, he married his second wife, Cora, 20 years ago.
Hialeah last honored him 10 years ago when it named the police gym after him.
?I want to give all the glory to my lord and savior Jesus Christ,? said Thalassites, with friends and officials by his side as he recited passages from the Bible, including John 3:16 and Psalm 23.
He showed a rare lighter side as he joked that Miami Springs police might see more of him in the future now that a Greek deli has opened ? across from the police station.
Thalassites has been friends with Paul Meletis, owner of the newly opened My Little Greek Deli, for decades.
?I need to go by and make sure the food is authentic,? Thalassites said.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.co...s-has.html#storylink=cpy