Officer killed during 100-mph pursuit

REDLANDS, CA Seven-year veteran Tom Coleman was pronounced dead at the Redlands intersection where he smashed into a tractor-trailer around 6:30 a.m. Friday, CHP spokesman Daniel Hesser said.

Coleman was pursuing a car suspected of vehicle code violations, Hesser said. The four people inside the car ran away but were later captured and arrested on undisclosed charges, he said.

Coleman, whose age was not released, was married with two children.

His body was covered with a U.S. flag and a red tarp at the scene. The mangled wreckage of his motorcycle lay nearby.

Coleman is the second CHP motorcycle officer involved in a serious crash this week. An officer remained in critical condition Friday after being hit by a motorist Wednesday on a freeway shoulder in Los Angeles.

CHP has a peer support network and mandates grief counseling for officers who knew the victims, said CHP spokesman Leland Tang. But he added that with such serious accidents, even officers who are not personally acquainted with the victims are affected.

"It hits home as to the dangerous nature of our job," Tang said. "It reminds us to be extra careful. It hits all of us."

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