More than 50 sheriff's deputies, soldiers and people from the community came together on bikes and on foot to complete their 5-mile leg of the 35th Annual Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's Memorial Torch Relay run Friday night from the Cerritos to the Lakewood stations.
The three-day relay run began at 9 a.m. Friday at the Sherman Block Sheriff’s Headquarters Building in Monterey Park. The Cerritos Sheriffs took the flameless white torch from the Norwalk Sheriffs about 10:20 p.m. and completed their zigzag route through Cerritos and Artesia to the Lakewood Sheriff's Station in about 45 minutes.
Before starting their portion of the 339-mile relay run, the participants gathered near a make-shift memorial of framed photos to say a prayer for the while on duty.
On Wednesday, May 23, the Memorial Flame at the Los Angeles County Peace Officers’ Memorial Wall will be ignited in tribute to the fallen officers.
"The torch represents those who died in the line of duty,” said Lt. Allen Castellano, who accepted the torch from the Norwalk Sheriffs and passed it to Cerritos Det. Rich Kent, who ran with the torch non-stop to the Lakewood station. “It’s for a good cause to remember those before us.”
