An off-duty Mesa, Ariz. police officer on his way home from a shift was killed early Monday morning by a wrong-way driver.
Officer Brandon Mendoza was traveling on U.S. 60 when his vehicle was struck head on by a driver who drove more than 30 miles in the wrong direction despite attempts by police to stop him, according to The Arizona Republic.
The incident began about 12:30 a.m. when Arizona Department of Public Safety officers received a report of a motorist driving the wrong way on Loop 101. The driver continued westbound in the eastbound lanes of Loop 101 until driving southbound in the northbound lanes of State Route 51. An officer attempted to stop the vehicle on State Route 51, but the suspect went around the officer and continued eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-10
The suspect continued in the wrong direction as he entered U.S. 60 from I-10 and hit the officer head on. Both the driver and Mendoza were killed on impact.
"He was everything you want your officers to be: approachable, empathetic, understanding," Police Chief Frank Milstead told reporters.
Later that morning, officers stood at attention and saluted while others hugged and held each other as Mendoza's body was taken out of Maricopa Medical Center and placed in a white van.
A police motorcade escorted the van to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office where the caravan arrived around 9:30 a.m.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Officer.com will provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
