Gerard Benderoth (February 1, 1969 – March 8, 2017) was an American policeman and strongman.

He was a New York City Police officer for more than a decade, and later a local police officer in Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York. He had vied for years to try to win the title "World's Strongest Man".

Standing 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) tall, he weighed 325 pounds (147 kg) and, before crowds of up to 20,000, he had done everything from carrying 450-pound stones to deadlifting 825-pound cars.^[1] Benderoth was also a boxer, his skills qualified him for the 1996 Hudson Valley boxing team at the Empire State Games. In 1995, he was a New York Golden Gloves super heavy weight 220-pound finalist, losing by decision.

He was a football player at North Rockland High School, later attending Westchester Community College and Troy State in Alabama.^[2]

On April 8, 2016, prosecutors believe that Nicholas Tartaglione, a retired Westchester County New York police officer who was working as a police officer in Briarcliff Manor and Mount Vernon participated in the killing of four men, Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna, and Hector Gutierrez, at the Likquid Lounge bar in Chester in Orange County.^[3]

In December 2016, Tartaglione was charged in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine since June 2015. Two of the men appeared to be unrelated to the deal, and may have been at the "wrong place at the wrong time.” Four bodies were later recovered from a farm property where Tartaglione was a tenant.^[4]

Benderoth died on March 8, 2017, age 48, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was pulled over by FBI agents and local police officers just a short drive from his home.^[5][6] The FBI reportedly planned to arrest Benderoth on a sealed indictment related to the Tartaglione multiple murder and drug conspiracy case.^[7]

Benderoth lived in Stony Point, Rockland County, New York, with his wife and four children.^[6]