Officer Donald Sahota Honored With Memorial Procession, Service

GRESHAM, OR — It was a tough day in Vancouver where Donald Sahota served as a patrol officer. It was a tough day in Gresham where he started his career in law enforcement. It was a tough day in Portland where he served the Port of Portland Portland Police Department.

It was a sad day in Battle Ground where Sahota lived with his wife and two children, where he was stabbed by a man who had broken into his home and shot by a Clark County Sheriff's Deputy who mistook him for a suspect.

On Tuesday, people lined the route a memorial procession took to bring Sahota to ilani Casino Resort where a memorial service was held. Hundreds of others jammed into the resort for the service while thousands more watched it stream online.

"I will miss our time together, greatly," Sahota's son Colton told those attending the service. "I am so grateful to have the opportunity to learn so much from although I wish I had more time.

"I'm so glad I had 18 years with him."

Colton's sister, Kylie, also spoke.

"Some of my earliest memories involved my dad being an officer," she said. "I remember late night calls. The sacrifice of time was hard to understand.

"I am so proud of the good he did."

Vancouver Police Chief Jamie McElvain said that Sahota "will be greatly missed by those who knew him as a friend and brother in blue."

McElvain talked about the sacrifice officers make.

"Being a police officer means sacrifice and time away from family to serve others," he said. As part of his law enforcement, we join you, the Sahota family, in your grief.

"You are members of our family. Now and forever."

Treating the Sahota's like family is not new to members of the department. Several years ago, as Sahota's wife Dawnese battled cancer, fellow officers donated vacation hours to him so that he could be with her.

Sahota's death, which was the first in the Vancouver Police Department's 138-year history, happened on January 29.

Police say that a man, since identified as Julio Cesar Segura, robbed a gas station in Orchards and fled in a stolen car. He later told officers that he had stolen the car from a dealership and planned to drive to Seattle.

He crashed the car, started fleeing on foot, going door to door, trying to get in a home.

Officials say he knocked at the Sahota's home. Dawnese asked who it was, and Segura started talking about having been in a crash.

She cracked the door and he forced his way in.

Sahota grabbed his gun, identified Himself as an officer, and forced Segura out the door where they struggled.

Dawnese called 911, saying that her husband, an off-duty Vancouver officer, had a gun on a suspect.

Segura stabbed Sahota several times and fled back in the house.

Sahota grabbed his gun, which had been knocked free during the struggle.

As he picked up the gun and moved toward the house, deputies arrived.

One popped out of his car with rifle and fired.

Sahota was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was only later that the deputies realized that he had shot the wrong man.

The Clark County Medical Examiner later determined Sahota died from the gunshot wounds.