Officer Jerry Lee Hartless, died January 31, 1988, from a bullet believed fired by a narcotics suspect nearly four weeks earlier.
More than 2,200 people, most of them fellow officers who came from as far away as Sacramento, turned out to mourn the 24-year-old officer who was described as "a thoroughbred."
Packing the auditorium of the Horizon Christian Fellowship Church in Clairemont, they heard San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender eulogize the energetic, one-time high school track star whose life ended tragically after less than a year on the force.
The chief recalled Hartless' police academy graduation last May, in which the young officer was honored as the most physically fit member of his class.
Hartless was raised in Hillsdale, Mich., where he set high school middle-distance and long-jump records. His father, Clyde Hartless of Tucson, Ariz., was a career Marine, and Hartless joined the Marine Corps after graduation.
Hartless married Shawn Dee, whom he met in high school, after he graduated from Marine Corps boot camp here. After serving a year in the Marines, he received a medical discharge because of an allergy and began working as a graphic artist.
Following the memorial services, a procession led by 600 police cars - their yellow, red and blue lights flashing - and 50 motorcycles wound its way slowly through Clairemont residential streets to Morena Boulevard, past Sea World, and through Ocean Beach and Point Loma to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, where graveside services were held.
More than 2,200 people, most of them fellow officers who came from as far away as Sacramento, turned out to mourn the 24-year-old officer who was described as "a thoroughbred."
Packing the auditorium of the Horizon Christian Fellowship Church in Clairemont, they heard San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender eulogize the energetic, one-time high school track star whose life ended tragically after less than a year on the force.
The chief recalled Hartless' police academy graduation last May, in which the young officer was honored as the most physically fit member of his class.
Hartless was raised in Hillsdale, Mich., where he set high school middle-distance and long-jump records. His father, Clyde Hartless of Tucson, Ariz., was a career Marine, and Hartless joined the Marine Corps after graduation.
Hartless married Shawn Dee, whom he met in high school, after he graduated from Marine Corps boot camp here. After serving a year in the Marines, he received a medical discharge because of an allergy and began working as a graphic artist.
Following the memorial services, a procession led by 600 police cars - their yellow, red and blue lights flashing - and 50 motorcycles wound its way slowly through Clairemont residential streets to Morena Boulevard, past Sea World, and through Ocean Beach and Point Loma to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, where graveside services were held.
Officer Jerry Lee Hartless, died January 31, 1988, from a bullet believed fired by a narcotics suspect nearly four weeks earlier.
More than 2,200 people, most of them fellow officers who came from as far away as Sacramento, turned out to mourn the 24-year-old officer who was described as "a thoroughbred."
Packing the auditorium of the Horizon Christian Fellowship Church in Clairemont, they heard San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender eulogize the energetic, one-time high school track star whose life ended tragically after less than a year on the force.
The chief recalled Hartless' police academy graduation last May, in which the young officer was honored as the most physically fit member of his class.
Hartless was raised in Hillsdale, Mich., where he set high school middle-distance and long-jump records. His father, Clyde Hartless of Tucson, Ariz., was a career Marine, and Hartless joined the Marine Corps after graduation.
Hartless married Shawn Dee, whom he met in high school, after he graduated from Marine Corps boot camp here. After serving a year in the Marines, he received a medical discharge because of an allergy and began working as a graphic artist.
Following the memorial services, a procession led by 600 police cars - their yellow, red and blue lights flashing - and 50 motorcycles wound its way slowly through Clairemont residential streets to Morena Boulevard, past Sea World, and through Ocean Beach and Point Loma to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, where graveside services were held.
More than 2,200 people, most of them fellow officers who came from as far away as Sacramento, turned out to mourn the 24-year-old officer who was described as "a thoroughbred."
Packing the auditorium of the Horizon Christian Fellowship Church in Clairemont, they heard San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender eulogize the energetic, one-time high school track star whose life ended tragically after less than a year on the force.
The chief recalled Hartless' police academy graduation last May, in which the young officer was honored as the most physically fit member of his class.
Hartless was raised in Hillsdale, Mich., where he set high school middle-distance and long-jump records. His father, Clyde Hartless of Tucson, Ariz., was a career Marine, and Hartless joined the Marine Corps after graduation.
Hartless married Shawn Dee, whom he met in high school, after he graduated from Marine Corps boot camp here. After serving a year in the Marines, he received a medical discharge because of an allergy and began working as a graphic artist.
Following the memorial services, a procession led by 600 police cars - their yellow, red and blue lights flashing - and 50 motorcycles wound its way slowly through Clairemont residential streets to Morena Boulevard, past Sea World, and through Ocean Beach and Point Loma to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, where graveside services were held.
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