Tragedy strikes California's motorcycle police

OFF THE WIRE
Written by Asia
In a cruel twist of coincidence a Southern California motorcycle officer was hurt in a traffic accident after he helped coordinate the memorial for another motorcycle officer who was killed while accompanying a policeman's funeral procession.
Bringing further tragedy to an already telling time, law enforcement officials gathered on Friday to remember Officer Andrew Garton died May 26 after getting into a collision with another motorcycle officer.
The two were escorting the funeral the procession for Manhattan Beach Officer Mark Vasquez, who had died of cancer.
Serving with the Hawthorne Police, Garton, 44, a veteran of more than seven years, was the first officer killed in the line of duty in the department's 89-year history. Most of the department's nearly 100 officers attended Friday's memorial service at a church in Cypress.
Reports are saying the two men involved in the tragic accident were travelling at high speed when they collided, throwing Garton headfirst into an oncoming car and the other officer, Sgt. Rex Fowler of the El Segundo Police Department, suffered a broken leg.
The dark twist of fate struck at the end of the funeral for the fallen motorcycle policeman when a motorcycle officer who helped coordinate the memorial was himself in an accident as he left the funeral.
Reportedly, the as yet unidentified officer broke his wrists in a collision with a truck that was turning into a shopping complex about 2 1/2 miles from the service.
The series of events have left many in morbid amazement and others evaluating the operational nature of funeral processions. The same questions were raised during the Primary presidential elections in February 2008 when a Dallas Motorcycle police officer escorted Hillary Clinton during a visit to the Texas City.
In this most recent incident CHP investigators have said they would be scrutinizing were the length of the procession at Vasquez's funeral and whether motorcycle officers allowed themselves enough manpower and time to safely ride around it.