Nearly 3,000 law enforcement officers paid tribute to California Highway Patrol officer Nathan Taylor today. A memorial service was held in Roseville this morning.
Mike Schmidt is a friend of the Taylor family. He says Taylor was well-known for his generosity and humility.
"I've known him since he was a boy. I consider him one of my boys," he says "I will always remember him and my life is better for knowing Nathan Taylor."
Officer Chris Nave worked with Taylor in the Gold Run office.
"The whole ideal of this department of safety, security and service -well, Nathan took that the extra mile. He was the guy... Nathan was known for giving folks $100 just to get off the freeway if they needed it or off-duty, he would pick them up and give them a ride to where they needed to go," Nave says. "He used to give people his cell number and for officers to do that? That's kind of unheard of. And he would do that because he cared. He wanted to make sure that folks got to where they needed to go."
Taylor was hit and killed by an SUV on Interstate 80 last weekend while investigating a traffic collision.
He was 35 and had served for six years with the CHP. Taylor is survived by his parents, four siblings, his wife and three sons.
Officers from Fresno, Ripon and Manteca were among the officers who attended the service, as did officers from 18 other states.
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