Thursday, June 17, 2010

IN MEMORY...

Regular light-hearted blogging is being interupted today in honor of Tom Coleman.

He was killed last week chasing a bad guy, when he collided with a big rig on his motorcycle. Mommy and daddy do not know him personally, but they want to honor him for helping to protect our town from bad guys. Today while mommy was out in the big green machine, she happened upon a line of his co-workers, heading to a memorial being held in his honor today. Mommy didnt mind being held up in traffic, as it gave her time to pray for his family and thank him for his service as his coffin drove by. Mommy's eyes are starting to leak in appreciation for what his family lost, so he could make our town safe.
Mommy says there is not many things more touching than a line of uniforms honoring the fallen. Especially when the life is lost in a selfish act of saving others. Please pray with mommy for this mans family!
BARK! Sasha the Princess


The California Highway Patrol officer who was killed Friday morning during a pursuit in Redlands was identified as Tom Coleman, an officer in the San Bernardino division of the agency, officials said.
Coleman, a seven-year veteran of the department, was killed about 6:30 a.m. during a pursuit that began minutes earlier when he tried to pull over a Ford Focus on Mountain View Drive near the 210 Freeway and the driver wouldn't stop, said Mario Lopez, a spokesman for the Inland division of the CHP.
Within a few minutes, Coleman crashed into a big rig and the suspect continued on, crashing moments later with another car near the Citrus Plaza shopping center. The four people inside the Ford Focus were arrested.
On Friday morning, a blue and silver CHP helmet lay on the side of the intersection of San Bernardino Avenue and Alabama Street, where Coleman was killed. Part of a mangled motorcycle lay nearby. Coleman's body was draped in an American flag, which was shrouded by a red tarp.
“It was a very short pursuit," Lopez said. "It happened no more than one or two minutes later."

CHP Officer Daniel Hesser said Coleman was traveling using lights and sirens. Coleman, a married father of two, was declared dead at the scene.
[Updated at 1:23 p.m.: Jose Acosta, of Fontana, who was driving a delivery truck and witnessed the accident, said he grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the flames that consumed the burning motorcycle. He said Coleman was thrown to the pavement and lay there unconscious. A man ran from a nearby school and attempted to administer CPR to Coleman. He said the man began crying when he realized Coleman could not be revived. Then the fire trucks and ambulances arrived.]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh that is so so sad :(
His poor little kiddies :(

your pals,
Digby and Delta

Jans Funny Farm said...

We're all sad for the family of the officer. This is a very nice tribute to him and to his life.

Dexter said...

That is so sad. We had an officer killed here this week. He had a car pulled over for a traffic stop and a drunk driver plowed into them both. It is so unnecessary and tragic.

Mango Momma

D.K. Wall said...

Thanks so much for posting this. Our area was memorializing a highway patrolman killed 2 years ago last week by a man he had just pulled over who had a gun. The bridge where he was killed was named in his honor and a honor guard motorcycle ride was held.

Trooper Blanton was the first member of the Cherokee Nation who became a member of the NC Highway Patrol. Since we live beside the reservation, we know how emotional this whole even has been not just for his family, but for everyone in this area. We are a rural area, so feel these things very powerfully.

Thanks again.