Sheriff's Memorial Torch Relay Honors Fallen Heroes

The 35th Annual Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Memorial Torch Relay run will be rolling through Cerritos Friday night at approximately 9:50 p.m. for a five-mile leg from the to the Lakewood Sheriff's Station.

The three-day Memorial Torch run will begin at 9 a.m. at the Sherman Block Sheriff’s Headquarters Building in Monterey Park and travel to each sheriff’s station. The 59 legs of the run are each approximately 4 to 10 miles in length, totaling 339 miles overall.

The Cerritos Station will be receiving the torch, which is actually a white light and not a flame, from the Norwalk Station. The route to the Lakewood Station will go as follows:

• Exit the station onto 183rd St. and go west. Then turn…

• Left on Norwalk Blvd.

• Right on South St.

• Left on Bellflower Blvd.

• Right on Candlewood St.

• Left on Clark Ave. to the Lakewood Station

“It’s about a five mile run from the Cerritos Station to the Lakewood Station, and then from there they will carry the next leg to Carson,” said Lt. Allen M. Castellano of the Cerritos Sheriff’s Station. “We’re going to be running, riding bicycles, rollerblading, riding scooters, skateboards…whatever people want to do. We’ve also invited the fire department and the US Army. We welcome anybody who wants to partake in it.”

The Memorial Torch Relay run was established in 1976 to honor the memory of those brave, dedicated individuals in Los Angeles County who have sacrificed their lives in the performance of their duties. This year’s relay run will honor four fallen officers:

• Deputy Constable Ed Brown, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who died on September 14, 1924, when he was shot in the abdomen during a gun battle in Newhall.

• Officer Anthony A. Giniewicz, Signal Hill Police Department, who was critically injured by gunfire on February 19, 1985.

• Officer Ryan E. Stringer, Alhambra Police Department, who was responding to a robbery in progress call on July 10, 2011, when his patrol vehicle collided with another patrol vehicle responding to the same call.

• Officer Andrew S. Garton, Hawthorne Police Department, who was involved in a fatal motorcycle collision on May 26, 2011.

Castellano said the relay run has special meaning for every man and woman who wore a Sheriff’s uniform and brings together all people in the community.

“The torch represents those who died in the line of duty,” Lt. Castellano said. “It’s for a good cause to remember those before us.”

For further information contact Public Information Officer Nicole Nishida at (323) 810-1973 or Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau at (323) 267-4800.