TAMPA, Fla. — Dozen of motorcyclists from the Broward County Sheriff's Office came together to ride in honor of fallen Tampa Officer Jesse Madsen and Pinellas County Deputy Michael Magli.
The group arrived at the Tampa Police Department's memorial Wednesday morning to honor Madsen. They also met his son, Carter Madsen, who received a handmade quilt in memory of his father.
The handmade quilt had a picture of the officer and also his patch in it, honoring the life of Madsen who was killed last March.
"[It's] just a little token and [they] just want to express their condolences," Brian Donnelly, a deputy with the Broward County Sheriff's Office, explained.
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office fallen Deputy Magli was also honored by the group.
The 9463 Foundation's State Ride is a week-long motorcycle ride where group members visit the families, friends and co-workers of fallen Florida officers.
The next stop in the trip is the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Thursday morning where Sergeant Brian Roy LaVinge will be honored. The group will then make their way down to Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
Madsen, a 16-year veteran of the force, was killed last March when he veered his police cruiser into a wrong-way driver on I-275.
Madsen had always been heroic. He was a recipient of TPD’s lifesaving award nine times. Since his death, the stretch of I-275 where the 45-year-old sacrificed his own life has been renamed the Jesse Madsen Memorial Highway.
In addition to his years of service with the Tampa Police Department, Madsen was a U.S. Marine, a U.S. Army veteran, and served two combat tours in El Salvador and Afghanistan.