Hundreds of Law Enforcement Attend Funeral for Officer Cruz Thomas

“Dispatch all units, 612 is 10-42. 612 has gone home.”

Franklin County 911 Dispatchers relay the message Sunday evening that  Franklin/Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven LaCruz Thomas has been laid to rest.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers from as far as away as South Georgia gathered in Franklin Springs Sunday afternoon to pay tribute to one of their own.

A long, slow procession of police cruisers from agencies across the state, with lights flashing, led the procession Sunday to the Swails Center where the family and officers paid tribute to Thomas.

The funeral itself was private and the family requested no media inside.

In Canon, crowds lined both sides of SR17 and watched in silence as a horse-drawn caisson, donated by the North Carolina State Patrol, carried the flag-draped coffin containing the body of Officer Cruz to the cemetery.

Behind the caisson, Thomas’ father , Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas walked carrying Cruz Thomas’ 8-month old daughter.

Officer Thomas was buried with full Masonic rites in Bowers City Cemetery.

Thomas was killed last Wednesday night on I-85 Northbound near mile marker 163 while in pursuit of a traffic violator.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, Thomas swerved to avoid hitting an 18-wheeler that had suddenly cut in front of him.   His cruiser went into the grassy median where he lost control.  The cruiser went back across two lanes of northbound traffic and struck a tree.  Thomas died at the scene.

Officer Cruz Thomas was 26.