About 100 people and 93 vehicles defied a freezing mid-March Saturday morning to take part in The Ride for the Fallen Officers from the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter in Harrison to the McKeesport Transportation Center.
The fleet of vehicles was dominated by Jeeps from area clubs and tow trucks from Ferra’s Automotive Service in Pittsburgh.
Those driving them were thinking about Sean Sluganski, the McKeesport police officer who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 6. Another officer, Chuck Thomas, was shot and wounded during the incident.
They were also thinking about Brackenridge Police Chief Justin McIntire, who was shot and killed while chasing a wanted man on Jan. 2.
“I lived and worked in a lot of these communities. I was just listening to the police scanner and I heard what happened to Officer McIntire, heard what happened in McKeesport,” Daniel Domski, a 35-year-old Cheswick native who now lives in Youngstown, Ohio, said. “And it’s just unacceptable to have violence against police officers like that; it really touched me pretty hard.
“So, I just made a Facebook post that I think we should do something for them. It spurred into all of the (Jeep) clubs getting together and putting this event on,” Domski said. “It’s about the officers. We respect them and think about them. They often don’t get the support that they deserve. They probably don’t see that it’s there — but it’s there.”
Some of the participants wore shirts that read “We’ve got your 6,” a police term that means “we’ve got your back.”
“A lot of us are first responders or have friends that are first responders,” said Tom Fronzaglio, 46, Donora, president of the Mon Valley Jeepers. “If something happens to an officer, if we see something, we’re going to back them up.”
The event was planned and mapped out by Shawn Redmond, 36, of Baldwin, who is president of the 412 Jeep Crew.
“I got in contact with 11 different police departments, from here on to Natrona Heights down to McKeesport. And everybody just kind of came together and helped me out, and it’s a pretty good turnout I think. It’s good to show support for all of our officers.”
The route was about 32 miles.
Among the participants was Michael Persetic, 45, Penn Hills who was driving a red Jeep Wrangler.
“We’re here to help out,” Persetic said. “We’re doing donations of gift cards for officers for lunch and dinner.”
Reached later in the day, Fronzaglio, who drove a black, 4-door Jeep Wrangler, said the ride went off without a hitch. It took roughly an hour-and-a-half to complete.
”It went great. There were no problems with anything,” he said. “We didn’t stop. The local police did a great job of handling traffic. I talked to one McKeesport officer on a motorcycle and I gave him (most) of the gift cards we collected. I’m going to mail the (other gift cards) out to Brackenridge.
“It was a great turnout.” Persetic said. “It was a great thing to bring the community together.”
