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StumbleEvent raises money for families of fallen Metro officers
Fundraiser will help send loved ones to D.C. for national memorial event
Patrons gather outside the Red Rock Harley-Davidson during the Ride for Fallen Officers event Sunday. The event, which included a round-trip ride to Mount Charleston, was to raise money for the families of four Metro Police officers who died in 2009.
Sunday, April 18, 2010 | 5:50 p.m.
Nearly 500 motorcyclists participated Sunday in the Ride for Fallen Heroes, an event to honor and raise money for the families of four Metro Police officers who died in 2009.
The proceeds from the event will help to send the families of officers Trevor Nettleton, James Manor, Milburn “Millie” Beitel and Daniel Leach to Washington, D.C., to participate in a May 13 candlelight vigil for fallen police officers. The vigil is part of National Police Week, which includes a series of events for family members of officers across the country who died.
Manor, Leach and Beitel died in car accidents. Nettleton was killed when he was shot by men allegedly trying to rob his North Las Vegas home.
The four officers will have their names added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, a marble monument that includes the names of more than 18,600 police officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
“It’s not going to be an easy event,” said Laura Leach, the widow of Daniel Leach, who died Nov. 21 in a car accident on U.S. 95 near Searchlight. “I anticipate that it’s going to be very emotional.”
She said the week’s events would be therapeutic for her and the children, Christopher, 19, Alexandra, 17, because it would reinforce that her family wasn’t alone in its grief.
Terrilynn Ducas, 45, of Las Vegas and her husband, John Ducas, 45, a Metro Police detective, attended the event to support Leach. Both participated in the ride to Mount Charleston to raise money for the families.
“We’ve been on so many bike rides,” Terrilynn Ducas said. “We’ve never seen a turnout like this.”
John Ducas said whenever a police officer’s family is in need, the turnout is always large. It’s a brotherhood, he said.
Sgt. Richard Strader of Metro’s Traffic Bureau was one of the organizers of the event, which included raffles, a barbecue, a car show and the motorcycle ride.
The nearly 70-mile, two-hour ride started at Red Rock Harley-Davidson, 2260 S. Rainbow Blvd., and went to the Mt. Charleston Lodge. Once the riders returned to the Harley-Davidson dealership, they sipped beers and munched on burgers and hot dogs.
The ride, which cost $10 to participate in, lasted from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with riders leaving at staggered times. The raffle had 200 items, including hotel stays, a guitar signed by the members of AC/DC, a rifle and other prizes.
Hundreds of police officers and other citizens attended the afternoon’s events.
Strader said this was the first time such an event was held, mainly because 2009 was a particularly difficult year for Metro Police.
“It’s tragic,” he said. “We didn’t expect that in one year we’d lose four guys.”
Strader said he hoped the event would raise between $50,000 and $80,000 to provide round-trip flights and lodging for the families in Washington D.C. No estimate of the money raised was available Sunday afternoon.
“As officers, you live in your community, you go to work every day,” Strader said. “But one day, you go to work, you might never come back.”
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Support your local police officers, the life they save might just be yours..
don't let the liberals find out about this. they'll want to take some of that money and give it to welfare moms with 4 kids.
Man! If I would've know about this prior, I would have taken the day off work to participate. I mean it's tragic that it happened, but at the sametime, it's nice to know that the community is still a community.
Stevem, that wasn't even funny. This article is showing the support of the police officers that died in the line of duty to ensure you safety. Don't belittle the effort to help the families with your political comments!
ohhh...truth hurts, huh?
I'm glad to see some positive press on Metro...Unlike the Firemen,They do risk their lives everyday while being professional and in tune with the community(AKA Pay cut without strongarming the taxpayer)
Most of us go through life day by day giving ephemeral thought and momentary attention to the losses of others. I attended because at face value it seemed like a worthy cause and I like to ride.
I have to say though that after the presentation of colors, standing in the presence of a daughter, who lost her father in service to me, and you, was more than humbling. It is my earnest and heart felt hope that someday these children and families can feel more pride than sorrow.
We must look into the faces of the families of our fallen Police and Soldiers, holding these men and women in high enough esteem to share in their families pain rather than simply acknowledging their sacrifices.
It's refreshing and uplifting to see the community come out for these officers and their families. And, it also helps those officers that knew these 'Fallen' officers as well. Being an officer back East, I know what it does for me personally and my family.
THANK YOU L.V. and God Bless ALL of the 'family'.
robert_lv :
Thats a BS thing to say here, this is not about anything except showing respect a gratitude to police officers who unfortunately have to experience and deal daily with the most disgusting elements and dangers that the human race is capable of. Lets see if you have the stomach for it..
environprotector:
I disagree. Not every police officer who dies is a hero and to say so disrespects the people who should be considered heroes. Being called a hero and having your name called in a wall is a nice tribute. But it should be reserved for people who deserve it. Driving 109 mph in direct violation of the law down a city street at night with no sirens or flashing lights is stupid, not heroic. I repeat, Metro is fortunate that Darling did not sue. He could have walked away with a bundle of cash.
It is usually Metro and the Metro sycophants who have little stomach for criticism. This is unfortunate as it allows their bad behavior to persist.
And my point is proved! My comment was deleted by the very Metro sycophants I mentioned.
i have no problem with these things being done, but none of this money should go to the cops families where the officer basically committed suicide. the one that got shot in his home in NLV, yea thats a no brainer. the one that was doing 100mph on flamingo....should get nothing.
given my experiences with our wonderful, and i use wonderful loosely, police department i would never donate a dime to them. too many of their officers, including their dorky pimple faced cadets, have very poor attitudes and are really only interested in serving you unless they have a chance to shoot someone. while not all of them are poor excuses for police officers in the metro department, i have to look for a good one, where other places i lived i had to hunt down a nasty one.
a number of the officers that have died recently are due to their own stupidity, not from the hands of a scumbucket. while i respect their jobs and the dangers of it, even working in the same field i cannot find respect for this department. i respect their job, but not the department. seems like a majority of the people i speak to about metro have the same feelings about their poor unprofessional attitudes. im disgusted by our disgrace of a PD, and hope to never have to call them. even metro dispatchers are nasty on the phone when you call 311 about a tagged vehicle....5 calls later i get one with an attitude but at least a brain and told me to contact a different agency that handles it.
while the officers that died due from the hands of another jerk is despicable, i respect efforts for these fund raisers.
for the officers that died from speeding are not heroes and are probably typical hothead cops that encompasses a majority of metros department.
wanna fire employees for budget cuts? start with metro. start recruiting good people, not any scumbag on the street and teach them how to actually communicate with the community and deal with all situations properly, not come out screaming ready to shoot.
robert_lv & sigtwenty :
The point you are BOTH missing here is that this issue is NOT about those issues you are bringing into this discussion. This discussion is about raising money for the families of the fallen officers who are husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Not only do these families have to suffer the loss of their loved one, but also their protector, and provider as well. This is NOT about anything else.
environprotector:
You are wrong. If this article was soley about raising money for officers killed in the line of duty, I would support it. But the article is in regard to the "Ride for Fallen Heroes", and describes how each officer's name will be added to a memorial wall and the money will be provided to the officer's families so they can go to Washington DC for the ceremony. Not quite the same picture as you present.
If you or I blasted down Flamingo at 109 mph at 3AM, I don't think we would get the same "hero" treatment if we also crashed and were killed. When cops break the very laws they are supposed to enforce and put innocent lives in jeopardy, they aren't exactly heroes in my book.
well put robertlv
Whatever.. you guys just don't get it...
I am really curious about the fund raisers...first off, are police officers not insurable by life insurance? and, if an officer dies, cannot the family collect on some sort of fund from the police department? And, I always thought police officers made a grip of money..wouldnt one save or invest, that way if God forbid, something happens the loved ones are left with something? I would think that if the spouse has children under 18 they would collect social security death benefits? and hopefully the spouse would have a job as well?? I dunno, I am not saying the fund raiser is bad by any means, I was just wondering.
I didnt receive anything when my father was killed by Metro. Not even an apology was given...and an apology isnt an admission to guilt, sometimes its just the right thing to do,especially by adults in their situation-And being a teengager at that time..even I could recognize that.