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CHP Delays Funeral After Pulling Over Procession On The 10
A woman said that a CHP officer delayed her mother's funeral by pulling the procession over because they were moving too slowly.
The funeral procession of about 100 cars was being led by a uniformed traffic escort on the 10 Freeway in Mid-City to Forest Lawn Cemetery located in the Hollywood hills on Friday, KTLA reports. Rachel Behn-Humphrey said that the procession was on its way to bury her mother, Sandra Louise Behn-Capel, when a CHP officer pulled them over. She called the incident "embarrassing," and said it made the family an hour late to the cemetery. She said that some of the family members ended up having to miss the burial entirely.
A CHP official told KTLA that the driver of the motorcycle was pulled over because he tried to stop traffic in the no. 5 lane so that the procession could pass. Sgt. Jose Nunez, a spokesperson for CHP, said that the officer only pulled over the motorcycle driver and indicated that the others could keep going. However, Nunez said that some members of the procession also chose to pull over.
The driver was ultimately ticketed for illegal lighting, and the motorcycle was impounded because the driver had an expired license.
Behn-Humphrey's lawyer, Edward Ramsey, said that while the officer was free to use his discretion to pull the motorcycle driver over, doing so "exceeds the bounds of all human decency." Ramsey said that if he were in the officer's position, he would have elected to escort the procession rather than stop them.
Nunez offered condolences to the family on behalf of CHP, though Behn-Humphrey is looking for a formal apology.
The family may also take action against the funeral home, as they said they paid the funeral home to have an escort to the cemetery.
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The incident was caught via cell phone footage.
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