37 Annual Memorial Tourch Run Sunday May 18th ALD 7

Good Afternoon,

 

Please mark your calendars and join us on
Sunday, May 18^th , 2:30PM,  at the  Altadena Sheriff’s
Station as we commemorate Police Memorial Week with the 37th Annual Memorial
Torch Run Relay.  

The runners will be running into Altadena
Station at approximately 2:30PM where we will conduct a short ceremony and have
food and beverages for all who come out to support us.

 

This year Altadena Station will be honoring
one of our own, Constable Anton Harnischfeger, who, through historical research
was discovered to have been killed while on duty while investigating a child
battery incident.  

 

Altadena
deputies, families, friends, and supporters will be picking up the torch from
Crescenta Valley Station.  Runners should enter Altadena @ 2:00PM. We
would like to invite the public to cheer on the runners as they make their way
from Woodbury Road north onto N. Windsor Ave. and then east on Ventura St.,
north bound on Casitas Ave. to Altadena Dr. and then east bound to the Altadena
Sheriff's Station, where the run should end @2:30PM.

 

Please join us at the Altadena Sheriff’s Station back parking area for a short
ceremony honoring those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for the people of Los
Angeles County. Followed by some food and beverages



This is a special way to honor law enforcement and it is open to the public and
media. This year’s Memorial Torch Relay Run honors the following
officers: 

• Deputy
  Constable Adolofo Celis, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, died
  April 18, 1883.  Deputy
  Celis was investigation claims of cattle rustling, in what is now the San
  Fernando Valley, when he was hit by a bullet as a rifle was dislodged when
  he adjusted a blanket on his buckboard.   
• Constable
  Anton Harnischfeger, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, died March
  20, 1889. Constable Harnischfeger was
  serving an arrest warrant, in what is now considered Altadena, on a
  suspect who assaulted a 15 year old girl earlier in the day.  As he
  knocked on the door of the suspect’s residence. The suspect opened the
  door, drew a handgun and fired a bullet into Constable Harnischfeger’s
  face.  The suspect fled, but was later tracked down and killed in a
  subsequent shoot out.
• Deputy
  Constable Anthony Bryan Couts, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,
  died October 25, 1914.  Deputy
  Couts was called to a rooming house in downtown LA to intervene in a
  business dispute between to property owners.  A tenant became
  involved and a heated argument ensued. Couts took hold of the tenant and
  told him he was taking him to the police station.  The suspect drew a
  handgun and shot Deputy Couts in the stomach.  He died from the
  gunshot wound the next morning.  The suspect was tried and convicted
  of manslaughter.
• Constable
  John S. (Jack) Pilcher, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, died June
  4, 1925. Constable Pilcher responded to
  Gage Ranch, in what is now Santa Clarita, to investigate a burglary. 
  Several items had been stolen but other items remained.  The
  Constable and his partner decided to spend the night at the location,
  believing the thieves would return.  The next morning they saw a
  large lizard run under the bed and both chased it, when the other deputy’s
  gun fell out of his holster, hit the ground and discharged. The round
  struck Constable Pilcher between the eyes and killed him instantly.
• Deputy
  James L. McDermott, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, died August
  26, 1931.  Deputy McDermott, a member of
  the Sheriff’s Robbery Detail, was at a service station in downtown Los
  Angeles getting gas.  As he exited his car, it began to roll away
  from the pumps due to a severe slope.  He jumped on the running board
  in an attempt to stop the vehicle from reentering traffic or damaging the
  station.  Seconds later he was impaled on a hook used to suspend a
  water hose.  The sharp point pierced his chest just below his
  heart.  He died in the ambulance as he was transported to the
  hospital.
• Sergeant
  Raymond C. Willis, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, died April 15,
  1957.  Sergeant Willis, assigned to
  the Crime Lab, as a polygraph technician, was flying in a small airplane
  as a observer with Sergeant/Pilot Vernon Corbeil to search for a downed
  plane near Malibu.  The plane experienced engine trouble and Corbeil
  attempted to land.  The plane scraped a ridge and burst into
  flames.  Both were killed. 
• Sergeant
  Leonard Robert Luna, Jr., Hawthorne Police Department, died July 8,
  2013.  Sergeant Luna was traveling on
  the I-105 freeway en route to pick up his department issued motorcycle
  from the repair shop in Long Beach, when another vehicle struck his
  motorcycle causing him to suffer serious injuries.  He was
  transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
• Officer
  Nicholas Choung Lee, Los Angeles Police Department, died March 7,
  2014.  Officer Lee and his partner
  were responding to a call when his patrol car collided with a commercial
  vehicle carrying a roll-off dumpster. His partner and the truck driver
  both suffered critical injuries.  Officer Lee was killed in the
  collision.
• Officer
  Christopher Cortijo, Los Angeles Police Department, died April 9,
  2014.  Officer Cortijo, a motor
  officer, was stopped at a red light, in front of a vehicle, when another
  vehicle struck him from behind.  The vehicle collided with rear of
  his motorcycle, crushing him and his motorcycle between the two
  vehicles.  Officer Cortijo was gravely injured.  He was
  transported to the hospital where he underwent several surgeries in an
  attempt to save his life.  Four days later he succumbed to his
  injuries.         

The Memorial Torch Relay run was established in 1976 to honor the memory of
those brave, dedicated peace officers in Los Angeles County who have sacrificed
their lives in the performance of their duties.



This three day run consists of 56 legs with each leg approximately 5 to 10
miles in length and covering more than 300 miles. The memorial torch will pass
to each of the mainland sheriff’s stations throughout the county. Avalon
Station will conduct their relay on the island during the week. Over 3,000
runners, most of whom are peace officers run during their off duty time to
honor the lives of the fallen. The relay run will begin Friday morning, May 16
at the Sherman Block Sheriff’s Headquarters Building in Monterey Park and
travels to each mainland Los Angeles County Sheriff’s patrol station, ending at
our very own Altadena Sheriff Station on Sunday, May 18.  

The memorial torch
that the runners carry along the course will ultimately be used to light the
ceremonial flame at 10AM on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at the Los Angeles County
Peace Officers’ Memorial Wall at the STARS Center. The flame will be ignited in
tribute to the fallen officers. The Sheriff's Training Academy and Regional
Services Center (STARS Center) is located at 11515 S. Colima Rd, Whittier, CA
90604. The public and media are invited



"It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they
lived."

—Vivian Eney Cross, Survivor 

 

Captain John S. Benedict

Altadena
Sheriff Station

Los
Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

780
E. Altadena Dr.

Altadena,
CA 91001

Office: 626-798-1131