PALM BEACH COUNTY – A memorial service will be held Tuesday to pay tribute to three Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies who died in a crash last month.
Corporal Luis Paez and deputies Butch Waller and Ignacio “Dan” Diaz were working traffic enforcement before being involved in a crash on Nov. 21 on Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee.
They were struck by a Jeep SUV while stopped on the shoulder of Southern Boulevard, just west of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, with their motorcycles.
A woman in her 30s from Pennsylvania was driving a gray 2019 Jeep SUV eastbound within the center lane when she is believed to have encountered a slower vehicle in the center lane and “she abruptly veered to the right toward the southern shoulder,” Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Indiana Miranda wrote in a news release.
Paez and Waller were pronounced dead at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Diaz, who was critically injured, died on Nov. 25.
Tuesday’s procession will depart from 9:30 a.m. at Palm West Funeral Home in Royal Palm Beach, then go south on State Road 7, west on Southern Boulevard to Crestwood Boulevard, north on Crestwood to Okeechobee Boulevard, east on Okeechobee Boulevard to State Road 7, then to Weisman Way, according to PBSO.
The public is welcome to pay their respects to the deputies by lining the processional route, including Okeechobee Boulevard and Crestwood Boulevard. The sheriff’s office warned of traffic delays along the roads.
The memorial service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. at iThink Financial Amphitheater at the South Florida Fairgrounds.
Instead of flowers, PBSO is requesting donations to the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association Fund to support the families of fallen deputies.
“We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we come together to honor our fallen heroes,” PBSO said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered United States and State of Florida flags in Palm Beach Beach to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday.
