Memorial Held Today For Fallen CHP Officer

A memorial will be held in Los Angeles for a California Highway Patrol officer who was struck and killed on a freeway shoulder.

The public service for motorcycle Officer Phillip Ortiz is being held Monday morning at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown.

Ortiz, a 28-year veteran, was issuing a ticket on June 9 on Interstate 405 when he was hit by a car that was traveling on the shoulder to pass slow traffic. He died last week.

Ortiz was the fifth CHP officer killed on duty in less than two months.

Two officers were struck and killed on Sunday in Barstow and Paso Robles.

A motorcycle officer died on June 11 after hitting a big-rig during a chase in Redlands, and a CHP pilot was killed on May 7 when his plane went down in Imperial County.

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