At approximately 11:00 p.m. on February 8, 1963, Detectives Richard D. Arundell and Gerrit Stip of the 17 Detective District spotted a car that speed past a red light at Woodhaven Boulevard and 62 Road in the Rego Park section of Queens. They followed the vehicle and after travelling a short distance, both occupants of the car that ran the light abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot. Det. Stip shouted for the teenagers to halt, and fired three warning shots as he and Det. Arundell chased after the punks. Two and a half blocks into the chase, Det. Arundell felt a sharp, severe pain in his chest, but he and his partner were able to nab one of the perps: a 17-year-old. The teen gave up his accomplice and the Detectives picked the other perp up at his home.
Det. Arundell was then admitted to a Queens hospital for examination, where he suffered a heart attack and died a short time later. Doctors attributed his heart attack to the police chase and the struggle when arresting the teens. His death was deemed in the line of duty. Arundell was only 36 years old.
Richard D. Arundell had been an Investigator before joining the NYPD on June 16, 1951. A United States Air Force veteran, he lived in the Rosedale section of Queens with his wife Rita and their four children, aged two to eight at the time of his death. His brother John was a Patrolman in the Harbor Unit.
A Solemn High Requiem Mass and an Inspector’s LOD funeral were held on February 13, 1963, at St. Pius RC Church in Rosedale. The funeral was attended by Police Commissioner Michael Murphy and other high-ranking members of the Department, along with countless colleagues. The funeral was followed by interment at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
On October 19, 2024, the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and 62 Road in Rego Park, Queens, NY was named after Det. Arundell. The street renaming was sponsored by New York City Councilmember Robert Holden, the Newtown Historical Society, and the Juniper Park Civic Association.
