Thousands to Attend Rites for Officer : Simi Valley: Officials expect up to 5,000 at Wednesday’s services for patrolman Michael Clark, who was slain in the line of duty.

Thousands of law enforcement officials from around the state are expected to mourn alongside the family and friends of Michael Frederick Clark during the fallen Simi Valley police officer’s funeral Wednesday.

The turnout is expected to be so large that authorities are asking most of the police officers attending the funeral to forgo the service at St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Westlake Village and attend only the burial at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park, also in Westlake Village.

“We are operating under the assumption that 4,000 to 5,000 people will show up,” said Simi Valley Police Sgt. Bob Gardner. Gardner said he based his estimate on the 1993 Camarillo funeral of Oxnard Police Detective Jim O’Brien, the last Ventura County police officer slain while on duty.

Father Paul Albee said his church has room for about 1,000 people. Most of the church’s pews will be filled with family, friends, Simi Valley Police Department employees and Clark’s former colleagues with the Los Angeles Police Department, Gardner said.

Clark, who leaves a wife and infant son, worked at the LAPD’s Devonshire Division for 2 1/2 years.

Clark’s Simi Valley co-workers have been riding an emotional roller-coaster since a gunman killed the 28-year-old patrol officer Friday, said Simi Valley Police chaplain Kurt Fredrickson.

“There’s a range of emotions from sadness to anger that come in waves,” he said.

Clark was shot in the back while investigating a call from the Ventura County Mental Health Department reporting a suicidal man at a Simi Valley home.

The expected statewide response will force officials to forgo the traditional motorcade because the expected crush of patrol cars will extend farther than the two miles between the church and the cemetery, Gardner said.

Auxiliary Bishop Armando Ochoa and retired Msgr. Thomas O’Connell will preside at the funeral services Wednesday.

A vigil service at the church is planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday, which is expected to draw a large number of Clark’s colleagues.

The Simi Valley Police Department will be closed between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday, Gardner said.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies will patrol the city’s streets and Oxnard police dispatchers will run the department’s switchboard, Gardner said.

Officials have set up a trust fund at Simi Valley Bank for Clark’s 5-month-old son, Bayley.

Clark, who was born in Malden, Mass., is also survived by his wife, Jenifer, his parents and four sisters.

Meanwhile, police on Saturday night moved the man accused of killing Clark from his hospital bed in the Ventura County Medical Center to one in the Ventura County Jail infirmary, where he is expected to recover from multiple gunshot wounds.

“He is up and walking around,” Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Hoelker said.

Daniel A. Tuffree, 48, holed up in his Simi Valley home for five hours after a bleeding Clark was dragged out of the back yard by SWAT team members.

Tuffree is accused of murder and attempted murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Hoelker said. His bail was set at $250,000, which may be too low for the crimes alleged.

Officials with the Ventura County district attorney’s office said they will charge Tuffree with murder with special circumstances, a charge with no-bail status.

“I expect the bail to be adjusted accordingly,” Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin McGee said.

If convicted, Tuffree could be sentenced to death. But prosecutors said Sunday they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

“That’s a decision that needs to be made down the road,” McGee said.

Ventura County coroner’s officials said Clark died of a gunshot wound to the back, but Deputy Craig Stevens declined to discuss the wound in detail Sunday.

“The shooting is still an ongoing investigation,” Stevens said. He said Clark was also shot in the right arm.

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FYI

To donate to the Michael Clark Trust Fund, send checks to the Simi Valley Police Department, 3200 Cochran St., Simi Valley 93065; or to Simi Valley Bank, 1475 Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley 93065.