Cop Tears: Some Are of Joy. . . And Others Are for a Fallen Brother

Nearly 2,000 friends, relatives and police officers gathered in a Covina cemetery Friday to pay their last respects to Los Angeles Police Officer Daniel A. Pratt, who was killed in flurry of automatic rifle fire in Southwest Los Angeles on Sept. 3.

Pratt, the second LAPD officer to die in the line of duty this year, was killed when he and his partner were chasing a car whose occupants were suspected of participating in a drive-by shooting.

During the chase, the vehicle made an abrupt U-turn and a passenger--described by police as a 20-year-old street gang member--opened fire on the officers.

6-Year Veteran

Pratt, 30, a six-year veteran of the department, died after being shot in the face. His partner, Veronica DeLao, was not injured.

Under the sweltering sun at Forest Lawn Cemetery an honor guard fired a 18-gun salute to the officer. As police folded the American flag that had been draped over Pratt’s casket, four Police Department helicopters flew over in a diamond formation.

Chief Daryl F. Gates presented the flag to Pratt’s widow, Andria.

Andria Pratt, who is pregnant, sat with her daughter, Amanda, and her sons, Daniel Jr. and Nicholas, beneath a canopy near the casket.

Many of the officers, who represented law-enforcement agencies from throughout the Southland , wiped away tears as the sound of a lone bagpipe playing “Amazing Grace” filled the air.

“One single thread that runs throughout is that we serve as a family,” LAPD Chaplain Sgt. Jerry Powell said. “Danny has fought the good fight; he has stayed the course.”

Remembered as a Family Man

At a memorial service at a Pomona church before the burial, Pratt’s younger brother, Brian, remembered his brother as a dedicated family man.

“I miss watching him and Andria flirting in the kitchen with the kids around them,” said Pratt, an officer with the Upland Police Department who moved this summer to a home next door to his brother in Montclair. “He was my brother, and I miss him.

“Danny was an example to all. To me, Danny was my brother, my mentor, my coach.”

Ward Jenkins, a LAPD officer who worked with Daniel Pratt, said he was respected for his leadership, integrity and hard work.

“He was called on thousands of times and never was he subject to a personal complaint,” Jenkins said. “His most common words were: ‘What can I do to help?’ ”

Pratt’s brother-in-law, Jim Deaton, also an LAPD officer, added: “In all the years I’ve known him, he always had a sense of purpose and direction, and he never wavered from that. It’s something we should remember.”

More than 100 motorcycles led a motorcade down Pomona’s Holt Avenue toward the cemetery. Police cars from dozens of departments formed a line that stretched for miles.

Police have arrested two suspects in Pratt’s death. Anthony Brown, who police have identified as a gang member, and an unidentified 15-year-old girl were arrested the day after Pratt was shot and are in police custody. Two other persons arrested that day, including a juvenile believed to have driven the car and Donald Hill, 21, were released pending further investigation, police said.