Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department motorcycle Deputy Thomas Albanese, who was killed in a collision in a Lakewood intersection last month while attempting to make a traffic stop, was eulogized Friday as a man who loved his job.
Albanese, 41, a seven-year veteran of the department and married father of 7- and 11-year-old sons, was attempting to pull over a black sedan just before 9 a.m. Feb. 25 when he was killed at the intersection of Paramount and Del Amo boulevards.
Albanese was northbound on Paramount Boulevard when a silver Mercedes-Benz, which was westbound on Del Amo Boulevard, struck him in the intersection. He was thrown from his motorcycle and died at the scene.
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served four tours of duty in Iraq, Albanese joined the Sheriff’s Department in July 2013 and became a deputy two years later. He held assignments at the Men’s Central Jail, Transit Services Bureau and at the Lakewood station as a field training officer and achieved his dream of becoming a motorcycle deputy. At the time of his death, he was assigned to the Pico Rivera station.
David Albanese spoke to mourners about his son, who joined the Marines like his father had.
“Tom made quite a mark,” the elder Albanese said. “I heard somebody say up here he followed in my footsteps. He might have started out [following] my own footsteps, but he made his own path, and I’ve always been very proud of him. ... He was so happy, and so proud to be a deputy. I did a ride-along with the man. I really enjoyed it. I was really proud to be with him that day.”
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