EAST LOS ANGELES : Police Raise Cash for Dead Youth’s Family
Police officers and local residents have donated hundreds of dollars to the family of Jose Vera, a member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Northeast Law Enforcement Explorer Program who died May 31 in a car accident.
Vera, who would have turned 16 last week, was killed when the car in which he was riding overturned on Interstate 15 at the California-Nevada state line, said LAPD Officer Ray Hernandez.
The accident also killed another member of his family and critically injured his father, Jacobo Vera. The elder Vera has been released from the hospital, Hernandez said.
Jose Vera, a Marshal High School student, was a member of the Explorer program for two years and was one of its most active members, Hernandez said. He was to have received a Community Service Award for his work this month.
The donations are being collected to help the family pay for funeral and medical expenses, Hernandez said. The City Council allocated $500 to the Vera Family Fund. Vera was buried June 5 at Resurrection Cemetery in South San Gabriel.
Donations may be sent to Business for Law Enforcement in the Northeast Division (BLEND), a business support group for the police division, at P.O. Box 41063, Los Angeles 90041.
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