Mourn Officer Run Down By Enraged Man

By REUVEN BLAU

Hundreds of friends and family members gathered Aug. 17 to pay their last respects to Police Officer Eric Concepcion, who was killed last week when an allegedly drunken volunteer firefighter drove his SUV into the off-duty cop's motorcycle on the West Side Highway.

"He loved all of you," his widow, Melissa Vicens, told the mourners at the St. Brendan's Church in The Bronx.

Leaves 2 Children

Demi Concepcion, his 4-year-old daughter, solemnly saluted his flag-draped coffin as it was carried out of the church. She clutched long white flowers while officers methodically folded the flag and carefully placed it in her mother's waiting hands. Officer Concepcion, who was 29, is also survived by his one-yearold daughter, Cameron.

He was remembered as someone who made everyone around him laugh. "We just lost one of our best musketeers," said his partner, Edgar Mangual. Officer Concepcion joined the NYPD in 2000 and was assigned to the 42nd Precinct. He worked on a detail that patrols Yankee Stadium.

Carlos Rodriguez, an NYPD chaplain, said Officer Concepcion's death was difficult to understand. "I can not explain why someone becomes so angry that they lose their senses and forget what they are trained to do, forget their moral standards," he said inside the church.

Homicide Charged

Investigators say that Robert Derian had a blood alcohol level of 0.12 percent when he slammed his SUV into Mr. Concepcion's black Kawasaki in a fatal act of road rage on Aug. 14. The two men reportedly exchanged words before the crash. Mr. Derian's SUV came to a stop roughly 900 feet after the initial crash, according to authorities.

Mr. Derian, who is a volunteer for the Saddle River Valley, N.J. Rescue Squad, was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and unauthorized use of emergency lights. But he has since been released on bail, which enraged many at the funeral.

"He was a good father, a good husband, a good son, a good brother," Ms. Vicens told the New York Times shortly after her husband's death. "And it wasn't his time to go."