Death in my department

[Guest guest]

Our department lost an officer on Sunday, August 27, 2000 at approximately

1330hrs. I only met him one time, and knew very little about him, but it

feels like I've lost a member of an extended family. Many of my coworkers

were friends with him. It has been a very sad week. Please keep his family

and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

Amy - MCP

Policeman killed on motorcycle

By JANELLE COWGILL

Montgomery Journal staff writer

A Montgomery County Police officer was killed Sunday when his motorcycle

skidded on a rain-soaked road in West Virginia and crashed into an oncoming

vehicle.

Claude T. Ferebee III - known affectionately as ``Buzzy " by close friends

and colleagues - was riding with about a dozen fellow officers and friends

when the group split up into a couple of smaller groups, each heading

different directions, said Capt. Bill O'Toole, a Montgomery County Police

spokesman. Ferebee, an experienced motorcycle rider and instructor, rode off

with four others, two fellow officers and two friends, near Shenandoah

Mountain and the Virginia border about 1:30 p.m. when the accident occurred,

O'Toole said.

``Here was a case where the combination of wet roads, hills and curves

proved disastrous, " said O'Toole. ``He was very experienced and very safe.

I guess that's what's so ironic about this. He was doing something he

absolutely loved; motorcycles were a passion. "

Ferebee, who was 47 and lived in Silver Spring, was not on duty but is the

only active officer to die this year, O'Toole said.

O'Toole added that the death has been especially devastating to the four

men who were riding with him when the accident occurred.

For the past two years, Ferebee had been working in the department's

special investigations division's electronic and technical support unit,

where he handled the technical aspect of tools such as phone taps and body

microphones for undercover operations.

Prior to that, Ferebee spent 23 years in the Silver Spring district, part

as a motorcycle patrol officer in its traffic enforcement unit and part as a

patrol officer.

Born in Washington, Ferebee grew to love the outdoors and took an interest

in fishing, hunting and photography, said O'Toole.

Ferebee was ``beloved by so many people, virtually all whom he touched,

that it would be an understatement to note how very much he will be missed, "

a statement from police Chief A. Moose read.

Ferebee is survived by his wife, K.; sons, Claude T. IV and

; sister, Dorothy Ruth; and brothers, Carl P. and Todd B.

His family could not be reached yesterday.

Funeral arrangements will be handled by Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home. A vigil

service will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the funeral

home, 11800 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring. Services will be held at 11

a.m. tomorrow at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1514 15th St. NW, Washington,

D.C.

Contributions to the Claude T. Ferebee III Memorial Fund can be sent to

Capt. Didone's attention at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge

No.35, 18512 Office Park Drive, Montgomery Village, MD 20086.

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