| Subject: Bradley Moore, Richmond, CA K-9 officer respected by police and community |
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Dead at 29
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Date Posted: October 14, 2008, 05:30:56pm
Richmond officer was respected by cops and gang members alike
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
(10-14) 16:47 PDT RICHMOND -- Bradley Moody was a dedicated Richmond K-9 officer who sported tan boots while on the SWAT team. He was a cop's cop, was devoted to his family and had such a reputation of being fair that gang members he had arrested created a makeshift shrine after learning he had died.
Those were some of the remembrances shared today as more than 1,500 friends, family and fellow officers turned out at a memorial service for Moody, 29, who lost his life after crashing his patrol car into a light pole on Regatta Boulevard on Oct. 4.
He was removed from life support Oct. 7, but not before his organs were donated to a patient in San Francisco who otherwise would have been dead within hours.
Moody's dog, Rico, was in the car at the time of the crash and suffered just a scratch on his nose. Rico, now the family's pet, was on the stage of the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord today, along with more than 100 other police dogs sitting at attention at their handlers' sides.
Their emergency lights flashing, a cortege of Richmond police cars escorted the hearse carrying Moody's body from a Vacaville funeral home to the pavilion, where a giant American flag was hung on the ladders of two fire trucks. Some cars in the procession had stickers in the windows that read "K27," Moody's radio call sign.
Hundreds of officers, their badges covered in black bands, saluted as pallbearers brought Moody's flag-draped coffin into the pavilion. They were followed inside by Moody's widow, Susan, a former Richmond police dispatcher, and their daughters, Emma, 1, and Madison, 3.
Many in the audience wept as Susan Moody addressed her husband and thanked Rico. "Even after the crash, Rico tried to protect his daddy and was with him during the last moments of his life," she said. As if almost on cue, a police dog began barking.
"Bradley, I am going to miss you each and every day that passes," she said as she began crying. "I promise you that I will tell our babies how much you loved them." With her children in tow, she placed flowers on her husband's casket and gave Rico a hug.
Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus presented the officer's widow with the department's Distinguished Service Medal.
"Bradley was a cop's cop," said Officer David Funk, recalling his patrols of the city's hardscrabble Iron Triangle neighborhood with Moody. "He loved his job, as he did life."
After Moody died, a memorial sprang up on Nevin Avenue, placed there by the "very gangsters and dope dealers who Brad used to arrest," Funk said.
The gang members left signatures and positive messages for Moody. "It blew me away," Funk said.
Moody transformed from a "big, gangly kid" when he joined the department in 2001 into an officer with all the attributes of a street-tough warrior, police Sgt. Lee Hendricsen said.
"He was strong, he was courageous, he was honorable, selfless and noble," said Hendricsen, adding the SWAT team will now wear the tan boots that Moody preferred over the more traditional black ones.
The service ended with a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps."
Moody was born in Honolulu and grew up in Vacaville. He graduated in 2000 from the police academy at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, where he was named top athlete, top marksman and overall No. 1 in his class.
He is also survived by his parents, James and Elizabeth Moody, his brother, James Moody Jr., and his sister, Jennifer Moody.
A fund has been established for Moody's family. Donations can be made to the Memorial Fund for Officer Brad Moody and dropped off at any Mechanics Bank.
Condolences can also be posted online at bradleymoody.last-memories.com.
E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.
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