PHILADELPHIA, July 14 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia motorcycle police officer killed in a head-on collision with an allegedly drunk driver was laid to rest Friday.
Police officers from other departments, including many on motorcycle patrol, came to Philadelphia to honor Brian Lorenzo, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Hundreds of people packed the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in the center of the city or viewed the ceremony on a giant television screen.
Lorenzo, who was on the motorcycle he used on patrol, died early Sunday morning on his way home from work. John Leck Jr. of Levittown, Pa., has been charged with third-degree murder and vehicular homicide and was being held without bail.
Investigators say Leck used an off-ramp on I-95 to get on the highway and then headed south in the northbound lanes.
During the funeral service, Lorenzo was eulogized by Mayor Michael Nutter and by his brother, Manuel, who said Lorenzo inspired him to become a Philadelphia police officer as well.
Lorenzo, 48, had been with the department for 23 years.
"Brian always did his duty," Nutter said, telling mourners he had last seen Lorenzo on July 4. "Let us try to live up to the standard he set for us."
