# David Lamoree Rio Vista CA



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

The small Solano County city of Rio Vista is in mourning after a well-known police officer died after he was taken off life support on Sunday, his 26th birthday, a little more than three weeks after he was married. 

David Frank Lamoree of Cordelia was involved in a head-on collision late Friday night with a sport utility vehicle that allegedly entered his lane to pass traffic on Highway 12. 

The crash also killed 18-year-old Vincent Ellis of Stockton and injured three other people riding in the 2002 Chevy Tahoe that collided with Lamoree's personal vehicle, a 1996 Ford Taurus he was driving home from work on hilly westbound Highway 12 near Highway 113. 

Lamoree was pronounced brain-dead from head injuries Saturday but was kept on life support until about 5:30 p.m. Sunday while his organs were harvested for donation. 

Nicknamed "Woody" for the earnest cowboy in the "Toy Story" movies, he was known for his easy-going and nice personality, said Joanna Myer, wife of police Officer Glenn Myer. 

Lamoree was surrounded by family members, friends and colleagues at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, said Rio Vista Fire Chief Mark Nelson. 

CHP investigators likely will recommend that prosecutors file two felony counts of manslaughter with gross negligence against the 17-year-old driver of the Tahoe, a resident of Acampo (San Joaquin County), said CHP Sgt. Bill Wylie. 

"Our preliminary investigation suggests that the driver of the Tahoe was exceeding the (55 mph) speed limit and made a grossly unsafe decision to pass a big rig with no line of sight," Wylie said. 

Wylie said Lamoree was driving about 55 mph. 

The Chronicle is not naming the driver, who was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento with moderate injuries, because he is a minor. 

"It's a tragic loss, a senseless loss -- based on impatience," Nelson said, adding that the crash occurred just a quarter-mile from a passing lane on the two-lane highway. "Everyone's really struggling. Rio Vista is very close-knit. This has been devastating for our community." 

Lamoree, who on Oct. 1 married a woman who had come to the United States from Poland on a student visa, had been on the Rio Vista force for two years. 

Calif. officer taken off life support after off-duty accident 

His father is Charles Lamoree, a former Rio Vista and Vacaville city attorney and Solano County counsel. 

Because the entire 15-member Rio Vista police force was on vigil all weekend in support of David Lamoree and his family, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office was patrolling the city of about 7,000. 

The officer's death is considered to have happened in the line of duty because he was headed home from work, Nelson said. It is the first line-of-duty death Rio Vista's force has experienced. 

Also injured in the crash were two back-seat SUV passengers, an 18-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy. Both were hospitalized.


----------

