TAMPA, Fla. — Editor's note: The video above is from a memorial held for Ofc. Jesse Madsen held on March 8, 2022.
Nearly 20 motorcyclists from across the state will take a trip to Tampa to honor an officer who died in the line of duty.
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. According to the Tampa police, the group will arrive at the department's memorial on Wednesday to honor Officer Jesse Madsen and meet his son, Carter Madsen.
The 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, Officer Madsen was a U.S. Marine, a U.S. Army veteran, and served two combat tours in El Salvador and Afghanistan.