FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A procession to honor fallen Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink went right through the heart of Port St. Lucie on Monday, the city that the trooper called home.
Fink, a three-year veteran of the agency, was killed Friday while in pursuit of a fleeing felon, Michael Addison, 30, on Interstate 95 in St. Lucie County.
The law enforcement community saluted the flag-draped casket of the trooper just after 1 p.m. as it was put into a casket at the St. Lucie County Medical Examiner's Office.
Four troopers on motorcycles road alongside the hearse while other FHP members followed en route to the Aycock Funeral Home in Port St. Lucie.
Chopper 5 flew over the scene and also spotted members of the community lining the road to honor Fink.
Gatlin and Port St. Lucie Boulevards are some of the busiest intersections in the city, but for a few minutes, there was almost a hush as dozens of law enforcement vehicles followed the hearse carrying Fink.
Chandra Williams and her daughter Kaylee, with hands over their hearts, were watching from the side of Port St. Lucie Boulevard.
"It was pretty impressive, that was so much respect and heartwarming," Chandra Williams said. "It was definitely worth watching."
It was especially poignant for Kaylee, who is almost the same age as Fink.
"I did have a friend in the police academy who knew him, so I was very sad about that," Kaylee Williams said.
At Mama Lisa's Bistro, Gary Holloway said it was a typical Monday until the procession unexpectedly went by outside their restaurant, which made him pause.
"I think it's a tragedy what happened," Holloway said. "It broke my heart. God is there for the family. I know he is."
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A lot of people were there for the Fink family, including Gary Corbett.
Corbett retired in 2006 after 34 years with the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office in upstate New York and felt compelled to meet the hearse as it arrived at the funeral home in Tradition.
"You want to know that if happened to you, you would get the same respect from the public and fellow law enforcement officers," Corbett said.
There are heavy hearts across the city for a young man who served his community.
The FHP said Fink started his career with the agency in Orlando before recently transferring to his hometown of Port St. Lucie. He leaves behind a fiancée, mother, father and stepmother.