A former New York State Police superintendent has died.
City officials in Schenectady, where Wayne Bennett was public safety commissioner, say he died Tuesday. The 71-year old had reportedly been undergoing cancer treatments.
Albany County DA David Soares says Bennett will be missed. "You can't put a price tag on the level of confidence that a person like that instilled on everyone around you when you're going through some difficult things."
Bennett led the state police when career criminal Ralph "Bucky" Phillips escaped from a county jail outside Buffalo in 2006. While on the loose Phillips shot and wounded two troopers and fatally shot a third before being captured in a field across the border in western Pennsylvania.
Bennett retired in 2007 after 38 years with the state police and became Schenectady's fire and police commissioner.
- Associated Press contributed to this report.
