Family, Friends Mourn Dispatcher Killed In Motorcycle Crash

MORENO VALLEY (CBS) — Family and friends are mourning the death of a beloved Riverside County Sheriff's Department dispatcher who was killed in a motorcycle crash July 12.

Dominic Durden, 30, was riding his motorcycle to the Moreno Valley Police Department's Dispatch Center when he collided with a pickup truck on Pigeon Pass Road and Chambray Drive.

Investigators say Juan Zacarias Lopez Tzun was driving the truck that hit Durden. Tzun, an unlicensed driver, was charged with manslaughter and has pleaded not guilty.

Durden's mother, Sabine, told KCAL9 she's angry.

"I'm glad he's not in front of me, so he can see my pain," she said. "He not only took my son, he took my best friend."

Tzun was arrested in 2010 and earlier this year on DUI charges.

"I'm angry that laws are so laxed," Sabine said. "People drive and they don't care if they have a license or not."

Sabine said Durden was her only family.

"When my son died, something in me died," she said.

Laurel Taylor, Durden's co-worker, said he was everyone's best friend.

"He was calm and collected, I wish he was here to calm us now," she said.

Everyone KCAL9 spoke with said the same thing: Dominic was something special.

A licensed pilot, a volunteer firefighter, the Volunteer of the Year for his city in 2002. He hoped to be a motorcycle patrolman, and eventually a helicopter pilot.

His mom saw him for the last time the night before he died.

"I got my bear hug, which I miss so much. I told him I love him," Sabine said.