Bar and restaurant hosts benefit to support Bristol fallen officers

ORANGE, Conn. (WFSB) - A bar and restaurant in Orange hosted a benefit tonight to help out the families of fallen officers Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy, as well as officer Alec Iurato.

It comes nearly a month and a half after the deadly attack.

“Before everyone came, we were like, ‘we hope we get a lot of support,’ and this warms my heart to see everyone here,” said Jim Kline, who helped organize the event.

Jim Kline, along with his wife Karen, wanted to help out and raise money for the families of Lieutenant DeMonte, Sergeant Hamzy, and officer Iurato.

Aside from enjoying the food and drinks from Orange Ale House, people had a chance to win a raffle or something from the silent auction.

Kline is a retired longtime state trooper who felt he had to do something when he heard about what happened that night.

“When these tragedies do hit close to home, it sends shockwaves through our communities, and this one, for our law enforcement community, has rocked us to our soul,” said Kline.

Jim Hassenmayer owns Orange Ale House.

He also wanted to help when he learned about what happened, but he wanted to give all the initial fundraising and support efforts their space.

He also wanted to do something a little later than most efforts, to keep the memory of Lieutenant DeMonte, Sergeant Hamzy and officer Iurato alive.

“It’s almost to the point that people are forgetting about the whole incident, and we don’t ever want it to be forgotten. I mean, these guys put their lives every day. So we support them one hundred percent,” said Hassenmayer.

If you missed tonight’s event and would still like to pitch in and help, Jim Kline says to get in touch with Orange Ale House & Grille and they will take care of that for you.

Copyright 2022 WFSB. All rights reserved.