Check to be presented to fallen CHP officer’s family Tuesday
A $46,445 check will be presented today in Riverside to the family of slain California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Maurice Moye Jr., whose death prompted a one-day charity drive that generated the funds for the benefit of his loved ones.
Moye was gunned down on Aug. 12 after stopping a convicted felon for a vehicle violation in the area of Box Springs Boulevard and Interstate 215 in south Riverside.
On Aug. 27, the California Pizza Kitchen, partnering with the nonprofit Police & Fire: Fallen Heroes, held a daylong fundraiser, during which 20 percent of proceeds from every sale at every CPK eatery in the state was set aside specifically for the Moye Family Fund.
“This donation represents the state of California coming together as one community to support our fallen hero,” according to a CPK statement.
Representatives from the restaurant chain and Fallen Heroes will present the check to members of the Moye family. Those slated to be on hand include “America’s Singing Policeman,” Daniel Rodriguez, a retired New York Police Department officer who was among the first responders at the World Trade Center immediately after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Moye was buried on Aug. 20.
The 34-year-old, who had been with the CHP just over two years, was a motorcycle patrolman and stopped Aaron Luther, 49, of Beaumont at the overpass.
As Moye and a backup officer prepared to have the convicted felon’s pickup towed, Luther opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle, fatally wounding Moye and inflicting a serious leg wound on the other patrolman, who is still recovering.
A Riverside policeman who was among a number of law enforcement officers to respond to the wounded officer’s calls for help killed Luther following a roughly two-minute gun battle.
Luther’s father told reporters that he suspected his son, who was in the midst of a marital breakdown and physical challenges, wanted to commit “suicide by cop.”
Moye was remembered by colleagues, friends and family as an upbeat, energetic, dedicated officer, whom CHP Inland Division Chief Bill Dance said “had a servant’s heart.”
KESQ
