Officers Jaime Roman, Richard Mendez honored at annual Hero Thrill Show in South Philly

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A live stunt show in South Philadelphia Saturday raised money to help the families of Philly’s finest.

The 69th annual Hero Thrill Show kicked off at noon outside the Wells Fargo Center. It’s a one-of-a-kind fundraiser that features police drills and stunts.

Officer Richard Treston with the Philadelphia Police K-9 unit is in his final year with the show.

“Everybody seems to enjoy the canine unit demonstration,” he said. “They enjoy the highway patrol demonstration, the fire department demonstration, so it’s a good family day.”

Visitors could walk through a swat truck, police boat and police helicopter.

Proceeds help raise tuition money for families of fallen first responders like Jaime Roman, who was shot in the neck during a traffic stop in Kensington on June 22.  He was put on life support and died from his injuries on Sept. 10.

He leaves behind a wife and two kids, ages 4 and 7. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel his legacy was about community.

“His legacy was about service and about giving back,” Bethel said. “Well, what greater example of that than to see the men and women amongst the community having a positive event and seeing the police department in a positive way.”

Bethel addressed the crowd of about 1,000 and asked for a moment of silence for both Roman and Officer Richard Mendez, who was gunned down in October 2023 at Philadelphia International Airport during a car theft.

“Make sure that we honor our men and women both when they’re living and in those unfortunate cases when they gave their lives for this job,” Bethel said. “...That is true brotherhood. It’s all the way through and that’s what we do.”