By Jill Harmacinski
The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
LAWRENCE, Mass. — First responders escorted the body of Billerica Sgt. Ian Taylor, a former Lawrence police officer, from the medical examiner’s office to Cataudella Funeral Home in Methuen on Sunday afternoon.
Hundreds later attended a vigil held in Taylor’s honor Sunday night at Billerica Memorial High School.
Taylor was killed Friday just before 2 p.m. when he was struck by an excavator that was backing up at a construction site on Boston Road in Billerica where he was working.
The 49-year-old married father, who was born in Lawrence, worked for the Essex County Sheriff’s Department and the Lawrence, Wilmington and Billerica police departments during his career.
“The impact that lan had on not only our department, but this community, and every life he touched, is immeasurable,” Billerica police posted on the department’s Facebook page. “There are no words that would do justice to the man we had the honor to know. Simply put, if you knew him, you were lucky.”
Taylor’s brother Zachary is a Lawrence police detective and his father, Wayne, is a retired Lawrence Police Department captain.
Ian Taylor was a close friend of Lawrence police Sgt. Charles Saindon, 44, who died of a sudden illness Feb. 26. Taylor was a pallbearer at Saindon’s wake and funeral, held with full police honors.
On Saturday, Lawrence police pledged to help Billerica police and Taylor’s family in any way they could.
“We will be there to support and assist them at any time,” said Lawrence Detective Thomas Cuddy.
Cuddy and Taylor were both appointed to the Lawrence police force in 2003.
Memorial service arrangements are still being made and details will be provided as they become available, police said.
“He is an unbelievable police officer,” Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost said at a press conference Friday. “We were lucky to grab him and have him work with us since 2011. He’s been here for 12 years.”
Frost stressed that Taylor “has done a lot for this community, for the community of Billerica and for the region.”
Police said Taylor, after joining Billerica police in 2011, was promoted to the criminal bureau where he worked as a detective.
In 2018, he was recognized by the Watertown Fire Department with a medal of commendation for lifesaving after an accident in that community, Billerica police said.
“The wealth of knowledge that lan brought to the Billerica Police Department was boundless,” Billerica police wrote in a Facebook post. “In addition to his work as a detective, lan worked tirelessly as part of the Billerica Substance Awareness and Prevention Committee to help those struggling with substance abuse. Ian dedicated his life to helping others and saved countless lives in the process.”
“As a person, lan was infectious,” police said. “His ability to listen, good will, wit, and perpetually up to something grin, shed light on each person whose paths crossed his. When he wasn’t giving advice or helping a colleague, you could find lan wherever he hid the peppermint patties.”
He was a son of Sandy Crane, Wayne Taylor and his stepmother Lisa, brother to Zachary and Cameron, a devoted husband to Mindy, a loving father to Nathan and Kylee, and a loved one to his countless family members and friends, Billerica police said.
The incident Friday remains under investigation by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office, and state and Billerica police.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter/X @EagleTribJill.
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