Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sheri Hatley, Oakesdale, carried a thin blue line police flag at the departure site. Her son, Charlie Hatley, a Colfax High graduate, was wounded last year while serving with the Coeur d'Alene Police, but was able to return to service.
Ladder trucks from Colfax and Pullman Fire Departments were used to suspend the flag across Highway 26 in north Colfax to salute a procession of officers who departed Tuesday morning.
Colfax fire department volunteers wait to salute the departing officers Tuesday.
A contingent of officers and spouses departed from Colfax at 10 a.m. Tuesday to attend the memorial service for Cowlitz County Deputy Justin DeRosier who was fatally shot while on duty in the Kalama area April 13.
Ladder engines from the Colfax and Pullman fire departments suspended a U.S. flag across Highway 26 as the procession of approximately 15 cars departed westbound for the memorial service which was held in Portland Wednesday.
DeRosier, a 2012 graduate of Washington State University, was a member of the Whitman County Sheriff's Reserve and then was a deputy here until 2016 when he decided to return to his home area in Cowlitz County.
Sheriff Brett Myers in a report Monday said the majority of officers attending the service from here are deputies, and that will leave a gap of approximately 48 hours in coverage for the department. Pullman Police, WSU Police and State Patrol officers have volunteered to cover calls to the sheriff's office for that span of time.
Deputy DeRosier's service was scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Chiles Center at the University of Portland.
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