MIAMI – A Miami police motorcycle officer who was killed in a crash Tuesday afternoon will be laid to rest Friday.
The Miami Police Department held a funeral procession for Officer Jorge Sanchez.
Officers stood and saluted outside Vior Funeral Home as the casket carrying Sanchez's body was placed inside a waiting hearse.
Motorcycle officers escorted the hearse to the Miami-Dade County Auditorium, where a funeral was being held. Gov. Rick Scott was among those in attendance.
After the funeral, Sanchez's body was buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum.
Sanchez, 53, died after a 26-year-old man lost control of his car that slammed into the back of the officer's motorcycle at Southwest Eighth Street and Southwest 137th Avenue.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, Ronald Nicholas Pla was driving east on Eighth Street in his 2013 Infiniti G37 when he lost control of his car and crashed into the back of Sanchez's motorcycle.
Sanchez, who was stopped at a red light in the center eastbound lane, was thrown off his motorcycle onto the roadway.
Troopers said Pla's car traveled across the intersection into westbound traffic and struck two more vehicles, causing a chain-reaction crash.
Ten vehicles were involved in the crash, one of which was overturned on its side.
Troopers said seven people suffered minor injuries, including Pla. Elma Lucia Alvarez, 48, who was driving a 2016 Lexus RX350, was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center in serious condition.
"Right now, we're trying to console the family and trying to console fellow officers, and so, it's hard," John Rivera, president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, told Local 10 News.