Dec 17, 2006 4:21 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Remembers Police Officer Killed
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News / AP) ―
A Fort Worth police officer was killed early Sunday when his patrol car was struck from behind and burst into flames as he was helping a motorist with a flat tire, police said.
Dwayne Freeto, a 34-year-old rookie, was in his patrol car on the outside shoulder of Interstate 35W when a Lexus hit the back of his car, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a police spokesman.
The impact forced the patrol car into the BMW with the flat tire, which then hit the pickup of a man who had stopped to help the woman. The patrol car and Lexus burst into flames, Sullivan said.
"The impact into the officer's car was such that it forced everything forward and pinned the officer in his seat," Sullivan said.
Police said that officer died at the scene.
Neither the pickup driver nor the BMW driver suffered serious injuries, but the pickup driver burned his hands trying to rescue the officer. The pickup driver was treated and released at the scene.
"He broke the glass with his hands, and got injuries to his hands," Sullivan said.
The 21-year-old driver of the vehicle that hit the officer's car was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with severe burns. Blood was drawn from that person to determine if alcohol was a factor, Sullivan said. He remains in critical condition. No charges have been filed at this time, but it is suspected the driver was drunk.
"From the evidence and wreckage, it appears that speed played a part in this," Sullivan said.
Freeto graduated from the department's police academy in March. Fort Worth Police Officer Clifton Miller described Freeto as "very loving, very caring, do anything for you, put himself last and put others first. That's the kind of guy he was."
On Thursday, December 21, Officer Freeto was buried.
The officer's widow maintained her composure throughout the service until the words of a song asked for one more day to spend together.
Karen Freeto will spend her first Christmas alone with her nine and three-year-old daughters.
"Certainly his life was not in vain," Reverend Landy Senter said. "It was not empty. Look at his family, look at what he was doing when he died."
"Today the city once again mourns the loss of someone from the Fort Worth family," said Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief. Officer Freeto's death marks the second funeral for a Fort Worth police officer in the past twelve months.
Fort Worth Police Chief Ralph Mendoza says the rookie officer's file revealed an intelligent, disciplined man. "One person wrote he will not, will not disgrace the uniform."
The officer's father and mother, Methodist ministers from Midlothian, told his son's friends that his light would never be extinguished because he believed in heaven.
Officier Freeto's patrol partner Brent Halford said, "I hope we can all learn from your example and join you one day. God speed to you, my teammate, my brother, my partner."
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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