Annual torch run carries on

By Erin Hawkins • June 7, 2017 1:30 am
Back row left, Sequim Police Department Officer Kyle Resser, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Don Kitchen, CCSO Deputy Michael Leiter, SPD Sgt. Mike Hill, Police Chief Sheri Crain, and middle, SPD Officer Kindryn Leiter. Front row from left, SPD Officer Tony Bush with K-9 Mamba, SPD Records Specialist Josh Rees and SPD Officer Stephenie Benes. Photo courtesy Clallam County Sheriff’s Office
Back row left, Sequim Police Department Officer Kyle Resser, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Don Kitchen, CCSO Deputy Michael Leiter, SPD Sgt. Mike Hill, Police Chief Sheri Crain, and middle, SPD Officer Kindryn Leiter. Front row from left, SPD Officer Tony Bush with K-9 Mamba, SPD Records Specialist Josh Rees and SPD Officer Stephenie Benes. Photo courtesy Clallam County Sheriff’s Office

Criminal Justice agencies across the Olympic Peninsula participated in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run from the National Park Service at Lake Ozette to Jefferson County to support the Special Olympics of Washington.

Participants took the Special Olympics Torch 65 miles from Laird’s Corner outside Port Angeles to the Hood Canal in an estimated 12 hours. Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict hosted a walk with Special Olympians and others while Police Chief Sheri Crain also walked with the torch in Sequim.

The run ended with an escort across the Hood Canal Bridge with many Special Olympians to hand the torch to Kitsap County to continue the run on Thursday, June 8, where it will end at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma for the start of the games on Friday.

Agencies represented included: Clallam County Sheriff, Port Angeles Police, Lower Elwha Tribal Police, National Park Service, PenCom, US Border Patrol, Sequim Police, Washington State Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, Jamestown Fisheries Enforcement, Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Jefferson County Sheriff, Port Townsend Police and Jefferson County fire districts.