In an update Thursday evening, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva identified the deceased as Deputy Thomas Albanese.
Duty Death: Thomas Albanese - [Los Angeles County]
End of Service: 25/02/2021
By Faith E. Pinho
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES COUNTY — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was killed Thursday morning after his motorcycle was struck in Lakewood, authorities said.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a tweet that the deputy was struck about 9 a.m. near Del Amo and Paramount boulevards, a busy intersection in Lakewood’s commercial area. Sheriff’s Deputy Shawn Dubusky only described the deputy who died as a male who had been on duty at the time of the crash.
“I can confirm this appears to be an unfortunate accident,” Villanueva tweeted Thursday morning.
https://twitter.com/LACoSheriff/status/1365101044200431616
More than 130 sheriff’s deputies have been killed in the line of duty since the department’s formation in the 1850s, according to Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit organization that tracks law enforcement deaths.
The crash came just hours after a motorcycle officer with the Los Angeles Police Department was struck by an SUV in Jefferson Park.
The LAPD officer, who was not identified, was assisting at least two other patrol units around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday. They had stopped the driver of a suspected stolen vehicle near Adams Boulevard and 13th Avenue when an SUV struck the motorcycle officer, L.A. Police Officer Jeff Lee said.
The injured officer was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was in stable condition, Lee said. The SUV driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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