There is relief Monday for the family of slain California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Maurice Moye Jr.: a one-day charity drive generated $46,445 for the benefit of his loved ones and a check in that amount will be presented in Riverside.
Moye was gunned down on Aug. 12 after stopping a convicted felon for a motor vehicle violation in the area of Box Springs Boulevard and Interstate 215 in south Riverside.
On Aug. 27, California Pizza Kitchen, partnering with the nonprofit Police & Fire: Fallen Heroes, held a daylong fundraiser, during which 20% of proceeds from every CPK eatery in the state was set aside for the Moye Family Fund.
“This donation represents the state of California coming together as one community to support our fallen hero,” according to a CPK statement.
Representatives from the restaurant chain and Fallen Heroes will present the check to members of the Moye family on Tuesday. Those slated to be on hand include Daniel Rodriguez, aka, “America’s Singing Policeman,” a retired New York Police Department officer who was among the first responders at the World Trade Center immediately after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Moye was laid to rest on Aug. 20.
The 34-year-old motorcycle patrolman had been with the CHP just over two years when he stopped Aaron Luther, 49, of Beaumont at the overpass.
As Moye and a backup officer made preparations to have the convicted felon’s pickup towed, Luther opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle, fatally wounding Moye and inflicting a serious leg wound on the other patrolman, who is still recovering.
A Riverside policeman who was among a number of law enforcement officers to respond to the wounded officer’s calls for help killed Luther following a roughly two-minute gun battle.
Luther’s father told reporters that he suspected his son, who was in the midst of a marital breakdown and physical challenges, wanted to commit “suicide by cop.”
Moye was remembered by colleagues, friends and family as an upbeat, energetic, dedicated officer, whom CHP Inland Division Chief Bill Dance said “had a servant’s heart.”
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