FULLERTON : Memorial to Officers Unveiled

More than 300 police officers, family members, friends and city employees gathered in front of the Fullerton Police Station on Friday to unveil a memorial to Tommy De La Rosa and Jerry Hatch, two officers killed in the line of duty.

“I hope that when people think of Tommy, they remember him for how he lived, not how he died,” Fullerton Police Officer Tom Basham told the crowd during the event.

“Tommy was the real deal. What you saw is what you got.”

After a memorial service, two bronze plaques with the faces of the two officers were unveiled by De La Rosa’s widow, Leslie, and Hatch’s mother, Dorothy.

Underneath the bronze bust of the two officers, the messages were simple and to the point: “Killed by a drunk driver” and “Killed by drug dealers.”

De La Rosa, a narcotics investigator and nine-year veteran of the Fullerton Police Department, was ambushed a year ago in Downey while trying to sell $4 million in cocaine to suspected drug traffickers.

Though fatally wounded, he was able to kill one of his assailants before he collapsed and died.

Hatch had only served on the force about six months when he was struck and killed in 1975 by a drunk driver. He was helping a stranded motorist at the time.

“Jerry always had a smile on his face,” said Fullerton Detective Don Pearce, who went to the police academy with Hatch. “Although it’s been 16 years in coming, the message we give today has not been diminished.”

In the 85-year history of Fullerton, De La Rosa and Hatch are the city’s only police officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

Friday’s ceremony marked the one-year anniversary of De La Rosa’s death.

In addition to speeches by Basham and Pearce, Fullerton Police Chief Philip A. Goehring, Councilman Richard Ackerman and Msgr. John Sammon, vicar of pastoral affairs for the Diocese of Orange, gave tributes to the fallen officers.

Representatives of other law enforcement agencies in Orange County and Downey also attended.

De La Rosa’s widow, who declined to talk, wept at times during the ceremony.

She was with her children, Tracy, 20, Nichole, 18, and Ashley, 2.

Doyle Anthony De La Rosa, the father of the slain officer, said he was very moved by the ceremony.

“Tommy would probably be very honored by this event. He also would have been embarrassed,” he said.

“Jerry would have been very proud of today’s ceremony,” said Hatch’s mother. “He was very proud that he was a part of this force.”