Funeral Service For Motorcycle Officer Killed In Crash
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A funeral service was held Friday for a Miami police motorcycle officer who was killed in a multi-vehicle accident earlier this week.
Hundreds of motorcycle officers lined both sides of Flagler Street in front of the Miami-Dade Auditorium as the hearse carrying Officer Jorge Sanchez's flag draped casket arrived.
Sanchez, who was on his way to work Tuesday, died after he was hit at the intersection of SW 137th Avenue and 8th Street.
Ronald Pla, 26, was heading east on SW 8th Street, when he lost control of his white Infinity and slammed into Sanchez, according to Florida Highway Patrol investigators.
A dozen people were hurt in the crash which involved nine vehicles. Five were taken to Kendall Regional Hospital, three were considered trauma alerts including Sanchez. The officer died at the hospital.
As the first line of defense against crime, police officers know that every day they go to work they may not return home. Since Sanchez hadn't even clocked in for the day, his sudden death was even more shocking and painful for those who knew him.
"There he is, sitting at a red light waiting to go to work," said John Rivera, president of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association. "We are told at the police academy that when police officers come to the house to pick you up and take you to the hospital something is very serious. The immediate family didn't realize there was something going on until they realized that they were sending police cars to pick up his son, and the others, then they knew something was really, really bad,"
Sanchez's son is a fellow officer at the Miami police department where Sanchez served for 21 years.
Sanchez was less than a year from retirement. He leaves behind a fiancée and three children, the youngest just 7 years old.