Five fallen officers to be honored at James D. Hoff Memorial

Thursday, May 7, 1998 | 1:55 a.m.

Among those to be memorialized are University of Nevada Police Sgt. George Sullivan, who was killed in January by a hatchet-wielding attacker.

Two other officers, Washoe County Sheriff's Sgt. Frank Minnie and Elko County Sheriff's Sgt. Travis Maki, were killed last year in traffic accidents.

The names of two Virginia City police officers, Dennis McMahon and John Reed, also will be added to the memorial. McMahon and Reed were killed in a gun battle on April 12, 1863.

Sullivan, 43, a 19-year UNR officer, husband and father of five, was killed Jan. 13 near his patrol car on the UNR campus.

A suspect, Siaosi Vanisi, 27, was arrested the next day in Salt Lake City and remains jail pending a January, 1999 trial date.

Minnie, 44, a motorcycle patrolman, was responding to a trespassing call on May 3 last year when he fell from the bike. He died two days later. Authorities never determined why he lost control of the motorcycle.

Maki, 32, died Nov. 29 when he fell or jumped from a fog-shrouded overpass on Interstate-80 as he assisted at an accident scene. He fell some 40 feet to railroad tracks below and died instantly.

The Peace Officers Memorial is named for Hoff, a 33-year-old undercover drug officer who was fatally stabbed in 1979 at Idlewild Park, where the monument is located.

Monday's ceremony begins at 10 a.m.