Large motorcade for slain deputy heads to memorial

He drove drunks home and helped drug addicts into treatment programs. He wrote tickets, ran warrants and made so many arrests that his sergeant's mailbox was always crammed full with police reports.

Nearly 2,000 people attended today's memorial service for slain King County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Cox. The ceremony was the largest service "in recent memory" for a fallen officer, said Sheriff spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.

"Its because of the unique nature of Steve Cox and the community outpouring that greeted news of his death, Urquhart said.

The service, which ran an hour over schedule, was held at the Christian Faith Center in SeaTac because it was one of the few places that could accommodate the large crowd of mourners, he said.

Police and fire officials from dozens and dozens of agencies across the Northwest, including a contingent of Royal Canadian Mounted Police from British Columbia, came to pay their respects.

"He was a real hero to real people," said Sheriff Sue Rahr.

In White Center, where Cox set his sights on serving, people treated him like a rock star, calling his name and waving when he drove by and swarming him when he stepped out of his patrol car, said his partner, Mike Schemnitzer, a community correction officer with the State Department of Corrections.

Remembered for his intensity, intelligence and work ethic, Cox was "the embodiment of the best in public service," said Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Earlier in the day, as many as 120 people gathered near the White Center Sheriff & Community Service Center to watch the motorcade for Cox pass by.

Many struggled to control their emotions.

Lisa Pipkin began to weep. "Rest in peace officer Cox," she said as the black hearse rolled by. She repeated, "Rest in peace."

As the vehicles streamed by, the occupants glanced right at the elaborate memorial of candles, flowers, pictures, and posters that had been put up outside the center in honor of the slain officer.

Fire trucks from King County Fire District Number 2 and the Kent Fire Department brought in two ladders which were raised in front of the center, forming an arch through which the motorcade passed. A giant American flag hung from the ladders.

Police and fire officials saluted as the 180 some vehicles passed beneath the flag and the ladders.

Pipkin, 35, who had never met Cox, said that the officer had counseled her husband and offered him help when he was in trouble.

"You don't always hear people speak highly of police officers. My husband thought officer Cox was an exception."

Like many residents of White Center, Cox had made a difference in the community and she worries that without him old problems will reappear.

Michael Pingatore from Burien, who also was watching the procession, said he had breakfast with Cox at a cafe in Burien on the Friday before he died. A painting contractor, Pingatore said "a whole bunch of us go there and Steve would come by, never in uniform. . . He was just one of the guys, you know."

It was around 2:45 Saturday morning, when Cox and several other deputies showed up at a White Center house party to investigate the attack on a motorist minutes earlier. Tim Stein was driving in the 10400 block of 12th Avenue Southwest when he apparently got lost in the heavy fog and collided with a parked car, according to authorities.

A 32-year-old Renton man shot at Stein, two bullets grazed his head, court papers said. Stein was then kicked by the Renton man and a 26-year-old Seattle man. Neighbors who saw the attack called police.

In an attempt to figure out who was responsible for Stein's attack, Cox interviewed partygoers one by one. Cox was just about to talk to 23-year-old Raymond O. Porter when the West Seattle man pulled out a gun and shot him in the head, court papers said. In response, two deputies shot Porter in the chest and thigh. Porter then took his own life by shooting himself in the head, according to the sheriff's office.

Cox, 46, died hours later at a Seattle hospital.

The nine-year sheriff's office veteran and beloved deputy had patrolled White Center for the past three years. He took cleaning up White Center seriously enough to become president of a neighborhood council and was often spotted at restaurants and stores with his wife and their year-old son.

Investigators also suspect Porter of killing another man just hours before the deputy was shot.

Porter and Sergio Reyes-Brooks, the 26-year-old man who investigators said later kicked the motorist, shot and killed 23-year-old Dominique McCray because they believed McCray had robbed a friend of theirs, according to court charging papers. The men picked up McCray, forced him to disrobe, ordered him out of their car and shot him while he was running, court documents said. McCray's body was found in the 13600 block of 18th Avenue South in SeaTac around 10 p.m. last Friday.

Reyes-Brooks has been charged with first-degree murder. He's also been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, because he is a convicted felon.

Glenn Lagdaan, the 32-year-old man who shot at Stein, has been charged with assault. He also has been charged with unlawful firearm possession because he is also a convicted felon. The third person charged thus far is 26-year-old Ashley Huish. She is accused of rendering criminal assistance for her connection with the attack on Stein, court papers said.

Porter is the third recent prison releasee accused of killing a King County law-enforcement officer since August. Like Reyes-Brooks and Lagdaan, Porter was being supervised by state Department of Corrections (DOC) officers since his prison release.

On Monday, Gov. Christine Gregoire ordered the agency to review how the DOC supervised all three convicts who were responsible for the deaths of the officers. Seattle police officers Joselito Barber and Beth Nowak died in August and November in traffic accidents involving recent prison releasees.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com