City mechanic does good by taxpayers

From CBS 2:

A mechanic for the New York City fire department is being honored for saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars through his ingenuity.

Jomar Pichardo’s job is to keep the city’s fleet of EMS ambulances running while working out of the department’s garage in the Long Island City section of Queens.

“I just like tinkering with stuff, so if I see something that can be fixed I’ll pretty much find a way to fix it,” Pichardo said.

He has saved the FDNY more than $700,000 annually by inventing ways to refurbish ambulance batteries and car parts that would normally be tossed away and replaced.

Pichardo created a charging room to squeeze extra life out of ambulance batteries, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported.