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NASCAR fans pay tribute to slain Daytona Beach officer before race

Officer Jason Raynor died on August 17, nearly two months after he was shot while on patrol

jason raynor

Daytona Beach Police officer Jason Raynor’s patrol car was brought to Victory Circle at One Daytona on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.

Tribune News Service

By Mary Helen Moore
The Daytona Beach News-Journal

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Race fans paid tribute to fallen Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor, his patrol car getting covered in messages and tributes as it was parked in One Daytona’s Victory Circle in the leadup to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race.

Raynor died in the hospital Aug. 17, 55 days after he was shot in the head while on patrol. The 26-year-old was laid to rest last week.

Joe Swetz, a former lieutenant in the Port Orange Police Department, where Raynor began his career, stopped by with his teenage daughter about 1 p.m.

“It’s very somber, surreal,” Swetz said. “It kind of hits home that he’s really gone.”

jason raynor

Daytona Beach Police officer Jason Raynor’s patrol car was brought to Victory Circle at One Daytona on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.

Tribune News Service

Before working in Daytona Beach, Raynor was a police officer in Port Orange, where he was honored for his heroism after helping talk a suicidal woman out of jumping off the Dunlawton Avenue bridge.

“He was very tenacious. He had a passion for his job that I hadn’t seen in a long time,” Swetz said.

Swetz said it’s been a difficult few weeks, especially for his friends who remain in law enforcement, but the way people came together to show their sympathy for the Raynor family and Daytona Beach Police Department has helped ease the pain.

“Seeing this outpouring support from the community in this time when it seems like everybody’s against law enforcement, it’s refreshing,” he said. “It’s a testament to the impact Jason had.”

jason raynor.jpg

This photo, from 2019, shows Jason Raynor being sworn in as a Daytona Beach police officer.

Daytona Beach Police Department

Oliver Dobai, of Oviedo, and Jayson Aten, of Davenport, were in the same car club as Raynor, the Central Florida Mopar Mafia. They came to town for the Daytona Car Corral and race, but stopped by the patrol car to pay their respects.

“It hits home. It’s sad to think that our world is the way it is. I just wish it was a lot better,” Dobai said.

Both men are Army veterans, and feel a kinship with Raynor beyond their shared love for cars.

“We’re all brothers,” Aten said of the connection between military and law enforcement. “I’m doing everything I can not to cry right now.”

Black permanent markers were tucked into the roses and lilies and gladioluses wilting in the summer heat, and both men left personal notes on the patrol car.

“R.I.P. ‘Til Valhalla,” Dobai wrote, referencing the great hall in Norse mythology where heroes slain in battle are received.

“Got your six,” wrote Aten, a former New York City firefighter.

The phrase is used by military and first responders to mean “got your back,” referencing the position of 6 o’clock on a clock face.

Patrol car to be retired

Raynor’s patrol car, #5502, will be retired by the department to honor the young man, Police Chief Jakari Young said.

It includes the signatures of his mom and sister.

“I’ll always have your six. ♡ Your Big Sister ♡,” was written above the grille.

“Love You Always. Mom.” was on the driver’s door.

Raelene Blake and her 8-year-old daughter Amelia were at One Daytona to shop and paused to pay tribute about 2 p.m. They circled the vehicle slowly, reading the messages.

“It’s overwhelming,” Blake said. “We’ve followed the story since it first started, prayed hard he’d make it through.”

They have a “Raynor Strong” sign in their yard in Ormond Beach, but Blake said Amelia doesn’t yet know what happened to the officer.

“We don’t let her watch news,” Blake said.

She said she planned to talk to her on the drive home: “Things happen. Unfortunately there are bad people and they sometimes do bad things, but cops are here to protect us.”

Mother and daughter wrote notes on the right rear wheel arch. The child’s message was simple, punctuated by a smiley face with hearts for eyes.

“Thank you. Amelia.”

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