It’s a bittersweet Christmas Eve for Hayward’s California Highway Patrol office as officers remember a colleague killed exactly one year ago in the line of duty.
Every available CHP officer is working Monday and Tuesday to catch distracted or impaired drivers and many in the East Bay have Officer Andrew Camilleri on their minds.
Last Christmas Eve, Camilleri was with his partner on the 880 shoulder trying to spot drunk drivers when he was hit and killed by a driver allegedly under the influence.
"We're going out there in strong remembrance of what happened to Andrew and how he lost his life and we're trying to prevent the loss of any citizens’ lives as well as any more police officers," said Lieutenant Gregory Saulman from CHP Hawyard.
They also honor Camilleri inside the station, keeping his memory alive with pictures and his mailbox is full of the citations he wrote. Just last Friday, they delivered Christmas gifts to his family.
"For the family to make it more of a special event than as opposed to an event of sorrow," said Saulman.
Officers say that driver who killed Camilleri was high on marijuana and he is due back in court in March.
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Meanwhile, officials are pushing for a mainstream test to assist them in making drugged driving arrests on scene like a breathalyzer.
"Whether it be an over the counter test like a diabetic check, a pin prick. Where it could give them an immediate reading saying 'hey, you've got stuff in your system,'" said Saulman.
Officials remind everyone that there are other way to arrest and convict high drivers.
