Donate a police patch to late Officer Moreno’s collection

The police community has come together in the days since Kent Officer Diego Moreno died in the line of duty on Sunday. Now, they want to do something for the late officer’s children.

Officer Moreno collected police department patches from all over the world as a means of building a connection between officers. The plan was to pass the patches down to his children one day. Since his death on July 22, 2019, Moreno’s kids will get those patches much sooner than expected.

RELATED: Three teens arrested after Kent officer’s death

“He was sharing those with his son; he actually posted on social media about that experience with his son,” Brian Lewis with the Kent Police Department told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show. “He told everybody how he was sharing the patches with his son and how his son was excited to see where the patches were from.”

“I found this post when I was looking through pictures of Diego after the incident,” he said. “I saw that and it stuck with me and I realized that the time has come now. That patch collection is being passed down far too early.”

Officer Moreno’s patch collection. (Courtesy of Brian Lewis)

Lewis was a friend of Officer Moreno, and was among the officers who escorted his body from the coroner in Seattle to Kent. He said it was “the hardest thing I’ve done in my career so far.” Support from the region’s police have been encouraging during this time.

“He was a larger-than-life kind of guy, he was so funny and could always make you smile,” Lewis said. “At the same time, he’s a phenomenal cop. He took his job so seriously. His training, his tactics, and the way he treated people was top notch. He was the model police officer that if you were to have a police officer to clone, it would be Diego Moreno. He was an amazing guy.”

“It’s been phenomenal, the outside agencies in the region stepping up and helping out,” he said. “Right after the incident happened, deputies from Pierce County came up, went to our station, grabbed radios and started taking calls for us. And other agencies have been here since helping us out with staffing so officers can take a break.”

Officer Moreno’s patch collection

Lewis is now asking for more patches to add to the collection. He seeks patches from around the globe from police, EMTs, fire departments, and other first responders. He hopes it will provide a message for Moreno’s children, showing how much their father meant to the police community.

Police stations as far as Texas have already started to respond to the call.

Patches can be mailed to: Officer Moreno Patch Collection – Kent Police Department, 220 4th Avenue South, Kent, WA 98032.

You can donate to a GoFundMe page for the Moreno family here.

Charges brought against three teens

The King County Prosecutor’s Office announced it is filing a second-degree felony murder charge against the 16-year-old driver of a pickup truck involved in the chase which led to Officer Moreno’s death.

The two other teens involved in the incident are being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. One is also being charged with possession of a controlled substance.

“Charging these suspects is an important first step to helping Officer Moreno’s family, the Kent Police Department and the entire community as we work toward healing,” said Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla.

The prosecutor’s office argues that three teens in the truck illegally possessed firearms that they were shooting in a parking lot before fleeing the scene. They then engaged police in a high-speed chase.