laxofficer

Hundreds Remember LAX Officer

06/03/05

LOS ANGELES — The father of the first Los Angeles Airport police officer to die in the line of duty told hundreds of mourners Friday that his son had found his calling in law enforcement.

"I thank God that Tommy was privileged to find out what he wanted to do, and he was able to work at it and be happy," Hubert Scott said.

"The light he had, he let it shine, so I'm very happy about that," he told law enforcement colleagues, family members and friends and dignitaries who attended Tommy Edward Scott's funeral at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

"We used to meet each other, and for a long time, when I would see him, we embraced, and I would tell him, `I love you son,' and he'd say, `I love you too, Dad,"' Scott said. "He will be missed. It's going to take a while before I get used to him not being here."

Mayor Jim Hahn said the officer, who would have turned 36 later this month, "was a shining star."

"He will be remembered as a hero to all of us, as a role model to those in the future," the mayor said, noting that Scott began working for the city in 1986 as an aquatics supervisor and lifeguard for the parks department.

District Attorney Steve Cooley told the fallen officer's family that no verbal expression or ceremony will ever compensate them for their loss. He noted that "today, ironically, is the day that California sets aside to memoralize its fallen peace officers."

"Tommy lived honorably, he died bravely, he joined a company of heroes," Cooley said.

Scott was killed last Friday during a late morning confrontation with a pedestrian he encountered while on patrol near Lincoln and Sepulveda boulevards.

The man somehow gained control of Scott's police cruiser and drove off with the officer clinging to the side of the car. Scott died when the vehicle crashed into a fire hydrant.

Police later arrested William Sadowski, 46, of Venice, after he allegedly carjacked another vehicle and crashed it not far from the wrecked police cruiser.

Sadowski faces murder, carjacking and attempted carjacking charges. Scott's death devastated the tight-knit Airport Police force. He was the first airport officer to die in the line of duty in the agency's 59-year history.

Airport Police Chief Chief Bernard J. Wilson recalled Scott's infectious joy.

"His peers on his watch knew him to be better than coffee in the morning," Wilson said, noting that Scott would always shout his name during role call -- loud enough "to keep everybody up for two days."

Scott, who graduated from the Rio Hondo Police Academy on Feb. 21, 2002, trained as a crime scene investigator. He often dealt with international dignitaries and travelers in his job.

A private burial service for family and friends was scheduled at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills.

Pastor William Epps, the officer's pastor at Second Baptist Church, was to preside over both services.

Besides his father, Scott is survived by his stepmother, JoAnn Carter- Scott, and brother, Hubert Scott Jr., all of Los Angeles.

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