Hundreds of police officers crowded the streets outside a southwest suburban church today to say farewell to Illinois State Trooper James Sauter, killed in a fiery crash last week on the Tri-State Tollway.
Following a 90-minute service at a packed Moraine Valley Church in Palos Heights, uniformed officers from dozens of jurisdictions filed out, taking more than 10 minutes to form phalanxes in the parking lot.
As Sauter's casket was carried, the officers lined up row on row, in columns of navy blue of municipal police, the brown of county officers and the green of state police dress. Bagpipes played "Amazing Grace."
During a 21-gun salute, there was a flyover by a single-engine plane and a helicopter, likely in honor of Sauter's service in the state police air operations.
The funeral procession then turned out onto 127th Street and headed eas, beneath a giant American flag hanging across the road. The procession, mostly marked and unmarked police vehicles, stretched for blocks as southbound lanes of Interstate 294 were cleared from the Cicero Avenue exit to the Bishop Ford Freeway.
On Monday, troopers in full dress uniform had greeted mourners for a wake at Moraine Valley Church in Palos Heights. The parking lot was packed, and nearly half the cars were marked or unmarked vehicles from about a dozen police agencies.
No comments:
Post a Comment