South Bay : POLICE MEMORIAL
Construction has begun on a memorial to two Palos Verdes Estates police officers who were gunned down during a botched robbery attempt in a Torrance hotel last year.
Volunteers have begun grading a small area across from City Hall where the memorial will be built. It will honor Capt. Mike Tracy and Sgt. Tom Vanderpool, who were killed at the Holiday Inn on Hawthorne Boulevard on Feb. 14, 1994.
So far, private donors have contributed about $75,000 to the memorial, city officials said.
It will include an 11-foot-high sundial and a reflecting pool, and will incorporate an existing memorial to city residents killed during World War II.
Some residents initially raised questions about whether it would be proper to combine the two memorials, but the memorial committee said it would be a fitting tribute to all involved.
The two officers were killed when David Fukuto barged into a meeting of city officials at the hotel with the intent of robbing the people there. Fukuto died after being subdued by other police officers.
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