Officer Jon Coutchie, a 41-year-old Laguna Beach police officer, was riding his motorcycle near the end of his shift late Saturday night when he crashed into a pickup truck on South Coast Highway and died.
Coutchie had been heading north looking for a vehicle that eluded police when he clipped the truck that was going south and turning onto Cleo Street just after 11:30 p.m. His shift ended at midnight.
Coutchie, who was born in Tucson, Arizona, but graduated from Laguna Hills High School, was identified by his department as a four-year member of the force. He'd become an Army Ranger after the 9/11 attacks, completed tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, and after his honorable discharge became a part-time jailer with the Laguna Beach Police Department. He'd been a motorcycle officer since March.
He is the first Laguna Beach police officer to die in the line of duty since 1953.
Rest easy Brother.
~S~
Coutchie had been heading north looking for a vehicle that eluded police when he clipped the truck that was going south and turning onto Cleo Street just after 11:30 p.m. His shift ended at midnight.
Coutchie, who was born in Tucson, Arizona, but graduated from Laguna Hills High School, was identified by his department as a four-year member of the force. He'd become an Army Ranger after the 9/11 attacks, completed tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, and after his honorable discharge became a part-time jailer with the Laguna Beach Police Department. He'd been a motorcycle officer since March.
He is the first Laguna Beach police officer to die in the line of duty since 1953.
Rest easy Brother.
~S~
