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Dream job for hero of Long Causeway
Nick Petruzziello from Peterborough, who was stabbed while tackling an armed man in January 2008 is now protecting the public officially after becoming a community police officer.
Nick Petruzziello from Peterborough, who was stabbed while tackling an armed man in January 2008 is now protecting the public officially after becoming a community police officer.Mr Petruzziello (24) has joined Cambridgeshire Constabulary as a police community support officer and is patrolling the city centre, the scene of his stabbing ordeal on January 5 2008.
Mr Petruzziello of Dogsthorpe Road, was attacked by paranoid schizophrenic Mohammed Zouaoui, who had driven into a pedestrianised area on Long Causeway, in his Citroen AX, knocking over a man and woman.
Mr Petruzziello confronted him, but was stabbed in the stomach.
Despite being injured, Mr Petruzziello instructed by-standers to back away to safety. The eight-inch blade missed his vital organs and he recovered in hospital.
Mr Petruzziello, a former painter and decorator, says his ordeal had strengthened his desire to join the police.
He said: "The incident just made me more determined. I am determined to make sure what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else on my watch.
"I am lucky to be alive. It was an ordeal but I have pushed it aside and treated it as a learning curve.
"Being a PCSO has been fantastic. The people I work with are brilliant."
Mr Petruzziello is passionate about protecting the public. He joined the Territorial Army's Royal Logistics Corps at Grantham in 2005 as a private and was prepared to serve in the ongoing Afghanistan conflict.
He said: "I am always willing to help."
He has given up the TA to concentrate on police work and hopes to be a fully-fledged police officer in future.
But for now he is happy in his role. and says he will continue community work for the next few years.
He said: "What better what to help people than working for the police?
"It is nice to speak to people and reassure them because I know what it feels like. "I'm really enjoying the job so I will keep doing it."
Related:
Afternoon at the shops is turned into terror, 7 January 2008.
Knife wound hero: 'I would do it again', 17 January 2008.
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Deportation for knife attacker
Algerian Mohammed Zouaoui, of Cromwell Road in Millfield, had come to the city claiming asylum.
After the Long Causeway incident, he pleaded guilty to three counts of grievous bodily harm and a count of dangerous driving following the Long Causeway incident.
Zouaoui was convicted and detained in a mental health unit.
Sentencing him at Peterborough Crown Court in April 2008, Judge Nicholas Coleman told him that what he did was so grave, he should be sent back to his Algerian homeland after his spell in the unit.
Zouaoui was also banned from driving for seven years.
The judge also praised Mr Petruzziello's actions, saying: "What he did was quite astonishing. He should be commended for his bravery and willingness to intervene and help others."
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