Double-amputee Marine vet joins New York police department BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (AP) — The wounded warrior is now a cop — and he'll be walking the beat on titanium legs. Matias Ferreira, a former U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal who lost his legs below the knee when he stepped on a hidden explosive in Afghanistan in 2011, is joining a suburban New York police department. Ferreira was on patrol in Afghanistan on Jan.