PITTSBURGH — Officers with the Allegheny County Police Department are remembering one of their own who was killed in a motorcycle accident over the weekend.
Sgt. Perry Vahaly died Saturday when officials said he hit a deer while driving his motorcycle in Rostraver Township.
“His father would be very proud of him. His mother is very proud of him. We’re all very proud of him,” Vahaly’s first cousin Cindy DeMarco said Wednesday.
DeMarco also wanted to remind anyone riding a motorcycle to wear a helmet, something Vahaly wasn’t doing when he crashed.
Vahalay served nearly 17 years with the department. A senior patrol officer who worked with Vahaly said he spoke with the sergeant just hours before the crash.
"What something like this shows is how fragile life actually is," said Chris Swanson.
A memorial has been growing outside of the Allegheny County police barracks in South Park, where Vahaly was stationed.
Vahaly leaves behind a wife and six children.
“He was a friend that people would want to have,” Mark Cook said. “It didn’t matter if I hadn’t seen him in two years or six months, he was a friend.”
Visitation for Vahaly will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Stephen D. Slater Funeral Home in Jefferson Hills.
A funeral service will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Thomas Jefferson High School Auditorium in Jefferson Hills.