A long-time South Florida law enforcement officer who was thrust into the limelight three decades ago for his heroism during a hostage standoff in Plantation where he tried to rescue two girls has died.
Joseph “Joe” Alu Jr. served as a law enforcement officer for Plantation Police for more than two decades, despite his near-death experience on July 25, 1995, when he was severely burned in a home explosion during the hostage call. He later became a Miccosukee Police Department road patrol lieutenant before joining the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in 2017.
Alu died Dec. 24, 2025, at age 69. His wife of more than 20 years, Jody Alu, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he became ill and was forced to retire in 2024 as a result.
Alu became a well-known figure, not only in South Florida but nationally, after he and former Plantation Detective Jim O’Hara tried to rescue two teenage girls who were being held against their will by their mother’s former boyfriend inside a home in July 1995. The suspect held sisters Anne Marie Smith, 14, and Hideko Smith, 16, in a gasoline-doused bedroom.
O’Hara and Alu rushed inside to confront the ex-boyfriend and save the girls. The suspect poured gasoline on the girls as well as both officers, flicked a lighter and set the room ablaze. More than 20 percent of Alu’s body was burned; more than 77 percent of O’Hara’s body was burned. Both girls were killed, as well as their mother’s former boyfriend.
Alu turned the tragedy into advocacy.
In August 1995, just days after Alu publicly discussed that his and O’Hara’s families would lose health benefits if they were forced to retire due to their injuries, the city of Plantation changed its policy. His then-wife, Sheila Alu, first entered the local political scene as a result of his injuries, advocating alongside him, and later became a Sunrise commissioner.
Alu didn’t stop with the changes in Plantation, Jody Alu told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday. He lobbied in Tallahassee and to Congress for law changes that would ensure first responders continue to receive health insurance benefits after being injured in the line of duty.
The Alu-O’Hara Public Safety Act was signed in 1996 by Gov. Lawton Chiles. In 1997, the U.S. House Commerce Committee passed broad legislation that included a provision inspired by Alu and O’Hara, which incentivized local and state police agencies to provide health benefits to injured first responders or they’d otherwise lose a certain percent of federal grants intended to fight crime, the Sun Sentinel reported.
“That’s what really makes him a hero. Because he could have just been happy with Plantation but he wasn’t . . . He wanted to make sure the entire brother and sisterhood was covered,” Jody Alu said of her husband. “And that was his biggest achievement, his biggest achievement that he was the most proud of.”
On Christmas Eve 1995, Alu, then 39, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in an interview while still recovering from his injuries that he didn’t yet know if he would be physically capable of returning to a career in law enforcement.
“They’ll decide, can I hold a gun again, can I arrest people, can I hang on to people in an arrest, Alu told the Sun Sentinel at the time. “I don’t know. I’m worried.”
Alu returned to work in October 1996. And his law enforcement career wouldn’t end for nearly three decades more.
“He was just determined to do that and that’s what he wanted to do and that’s what he did,” his wife told the Sun Sentinel.
When Alu returned, he worked as a background investigator for the department, recruiting and researching new hires.
Former Plantation Police Officer Steven Bowser, now a Fort Lauderdale Police officer, said it was thanks to Alu that many Plantation officers got their start in the force, some of whom ended up rising in the ranks of the department.
“He gave people a chance and, you know what, it paid off,” Bowser said. “A lot of those people who wouldn’t have got hired turned out to be phenomenal hires.”
Outside of work, Alu enjoyed working out and riding his Harley-Davidson, which Bowser said they did together while off-duty. He was a man who cared deeply for his family and was always a “go-getter” for Plantation Police who any officer would want as back-up, Bowser said.
Alu, O’Hara and a third officer who rescued them from the burning home, Robin Massey, were lauded in 1996 by the National Association of Police Organizations as Top Cops for their bravery on the infamous call.
O’Hara was told numerous times by doctors that he likely wouldn’t survive. Unable to return to law enforcement, he became a lawyer in 2003.
The only job Alu ever wanted was in law enforcement, Jody Alu told the Sun Sentinel. He first worked in his native New Jersey for the state police before coming to South Florida in the mid-to-late 1980s. While with Plantation Police, he was a hostage negotiator and member of the Crisis Response Team. He retired from the department as an investigator in 2008.
Alu again made headlines in the early- and mid-2000s, after he was severely injured and comatose from being hit by a car while riding his motorcycle in the Keys and several years later while he worked as bodyguard for Kim Rothstein, wife of notorious Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.
His most recent assignment with PBSO was working in Lake Worth Beach’s downtown as a liaison between businesses and the department, Jody Alu said. Getting to know the business owners and patrons, forming “a strong bond with everybody,” was what he loved about his last job, she said.
During his time as a PBSO deputy, Alu would carry a bag of stuffed animals in his patrol car to comfort children who experienced a traumatic event, his wife said. And as an animal-lover who put on a Halloween party fundraiser each year for 15 years with his wife for Abandoned Pet Rescue in Fort Lauderdale, he always carried dog biscuits in his patrol car, too.
“He was extremely friendly and extremely helpful,” Jody Alu said. “I don’t know anybody that didn’t like him. He was just a very helpful person, very nice person.”
One of Alu’s daughters, Samantha Alu, said in a statement to the Sun Sentinel: “My dad was an amazing officer who cared deeply for the community. He risked his life to protect this community and we will never forget his heroism and dedication to his badge. His children, Dominic Alu, Sam Alu, and Tina Alu will forever miss him!”
Information from the Sun Sentinel archives was used in this report.