Dallas Police Force 'With Our Hearts Broken' Pays Tribute to Fallen Officer

DALLAS -- A 32-year Dallas police veteran was killed by a drunken driving suspect early Saturday as he accompanied the funeral escort of a fellow officer through southeast Dallas.

Senior Cpl. Earl "Jamie" Givens, 55, was blocking the Interstate 20 ramp at Bonnie View Road with his motorcycle's lights flashing about 6 a.m. when a Kia Sportage hit him at high speed and crashed into the concrete wall dividing the highway, police said.

The SUV's driver, 25-year-old Adrian Breedlove, was arrested on charges of intoxication manslaughter causing the death of a peace officer and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

Breedlove was booked into the Dallas County Jail on Saturday afternoon with bail set at $76,000. He bonded out shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday, a spokesman for the sheriff's department said.

Fellow officers in the escort rushed back to help their fallen comrade until paramedics could arrive, police said.

He was taken to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

"We stand here today with our hearts broken," Chief U. Renee Hall said outside Baylor hospital following the police escort.

Mayor Mike Rawlings echoed the chief's heartache and urged Dallas residents to "pray for the Givens family and for the brave ... officers who protect us every day."

Fred Frazier, vice president of the Dallas Police Association, said he's been friends with Givens for 15 years.

"He was a great guy with a great big heart," he said, noting the devastating irony of an officer dying while escorting another officer's funeral procession. "How tragic could this be?"

Frazier said Givens was deeply involved in fundraising for various charities, one of which was the Assist the Officer Foundation. The foundation will be taking donations in his name to distribute to his two young adult sons, Frazier said.

The crash that killed Givens "also threatened the safety of our community," Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said in a statement.

"That very safety is what Senior Cpl. Givens, and all of our first responders, fight so hard to protect, on our behalf, each and every day," Johnson said.

The funeral escort for Tyrone Andrews, who died of terminal cancer, began at 5:30 a.m. and was headed to East Texas.

Breedlove was arrested after a field sobriety test was conducted.

The DA's office plans to prosecute this case "to the fullest extent of the law," Johnson said in her statement.

Motorcycle officers, commonly known as "motor jocks," are especially vulnerable while performing their escort duties.

In 2008, Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada, 49, died in a crash while controlling traffic for the motorcade of Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was campaigning for president.

As the caravan headed south on the Houston Street viaduct, Lozada came around a curve to pass the motorcade and lost control of his motorcycle, slamming head-on into a concrete outcropping.

Givens is the sixth Dallas police officer killed in the line of duty in the past two years and the second this year.

Officer Rogelio Santander, a three-year veteran, was shot and killed in April during a confrontation with a shoplifting suspect at a Home Depot in Lake Highlands.

Before that, in July 2016, the department suffered its deadliest day ever when a gunman opened fire on officers after a downtown protest against police brutality.

Micah Johnson killed four Dallas police officers and a DART policeman before he was slain by SWAT officers.

Staff writers Sara Coello and Tom Steele contributed to this report.

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