Bruce Blakeman said Friday that Gaetano "Guy" Savia will not be asked to step down after Savia was arrested at Kennedy Airport on Thursday when a TSA officer found a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag at Terminal 4. The Nassau County executive said Savia’s role in the county’s volunteer deputy program will go through an administrative review process.
The arrest matters now because Blakeman built that provisional special deputies program in 2024, recruiting and training volunteers who could help professional law enforcement in an emergency. Savia’s case has put the program under fresh scrutiny, not only because he was carrying a loaded Ruger.380 caliber pistol with ten rounds of ammunition, but because his identity had been under court seal until last month.
Blakeman defended Savia as a man who made a mistake while rushing to the airport to catch a flight to Syracuse for a grandchild’s graduation. Savia was released on his own recognizance and ordered back to court next month. His charge involves knowingly and unlawfully possessing a firearm in violation of the terms of a license, which he held for business, hunting or target use, but not for carrying the gun through an airport checkpoint.
At a gubernatorial campaign stop in the Bronx, Blakeman said he knew Savia well and described him as a hardworking, good member of the community. He added that Savia is “not a criminal,” even as authorities said a loaded firearm was found in his bag. That defense leaves the county with a narrower question than the arrest itself: whether Savia remains fit for a program built on trust, training and access in an emergency.
Savia, 68, was appointed to the Hempstead Industrial Development Agency in 2024 by the Hempstead Town Board and owns a medical supply company, a hospitality management company and a commercial real estate holding company on Long Island. He is also a longtime donor to the Nassau GOP and Republican candidates, including Blakeman. For now, the county says no step-down has been demanded, but the review is moving ahead and Savia’s standing in the volunteer deputy program will turn on what officials decide next.
