George Caccavale was 33 and an 11-year veteran of the New York City Transit Police when he was killed during an armed robbery in Long Island City, Queens. On Friday, June 25, 1976, Caccavale was working a second job providing security for the Van Dam Check Cashing Corporation. As he was getting out of his car with a bag of cash, three men who had been lying in wait ambushed him. The attackers knew he was a police officer; he immediately identified himself and drew his weapon, but the assailants opened fire, shooting him in the chest, thigh, and legs. Witnesses inside the business heard about four shots. The robbers stole his drawn firearm and fled. Caccavale was taken to Greenpoint Hospital and died of internal bleeding the next day, June 26, 1976.

A task force of NYPD and Transit detectives tracked the suspects, who had met in prison and temporarily fled with help from one of them. All three were eventually arrested, convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree armed robbery, and received lengthy prison terms. Two of the men later died in prison; the third has sought parole in recent years. Did anyone who knew Caccavale or worked in that neighborhood in 1976 see anything that could add detail about the robbery or the men involved?