2009 Peace Officer Memorial Relay

Altadena Station Commander Captain Roosevelt Blow

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department annual Peace Officer’s Memorial Torch Relay culminated at the Altadena Station this year as it does every year. The relay race began at Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau, Friday, May 22, 2009 at 9:00am, with runners who carry the lit torch to East Los Angeles station, where it is handed off to that station’s runners. The relay continues until each Sheriff’s station in Los Angeles County has handed the torch to their runners, a total distance covering over 300 miles. The relay ended, Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 2:30pm, where Altadena Station personnel brought in the torch and conducted a memorial ceremony to honor peace officers who were killed in the line of duty in Los Angeles county during the past twelve months. The runners were escorted into the station from Fair Oaks Avenue and Altadena Drive by sheriff’s patrol vehicles and Los Angeles County Fire Department vehicles with lights flashing.

The following officers were honored:

L.A. County Deputy Sheriff Juan A. Escalante, August 2, 2008
L. A. Police Dept. Officer Spree DeSha, September 12, 2008
L. A. County Deputy Randy Hamson, Oct 24, 2008
CHP Officer Joseph Sanders, December 15, 2008
Culver City Police Dept. Lieutenant Curtis A. Massey, January 28, 2009
L.A. County Deputy Sheriff David Larimer, Dec. 31, 1942 (Altadena Station’s only officer killed in the line of duty, honored in 2009).