UPDATE, JULY 20, 5:25 P.M.: A memorial service for veteran Anaheim Police Officer Brian Hayes, who died in a plane crash with his girlfriend Sunday in Arizona, will be noon Saturday at Calvary Church East Anaheim, 5605 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim.
Hayes is survived by his father, Judge W. Michael Hayes, his mother Pamela and sister Christie Abercrombie.
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In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the “Anaheim Police Survivors and Scholarship Fund” c/o Anaheim Police Association, 508 N. Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim CA 92805. Taxpayer ID # 95-3493593.
A pilot who witnessed Sunday's crash Sunday morning at Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport reported seeing the Mooney M20F plane rock back and forth after takeoff. It then rolled and hit the ground at the end of the runway upside down.
Hayes had a private pilot's license since 2003. The Mooney M20F was registered to his Chino address and co-owned by Hayes and three other Anaheim Police Department employees.
ORIGINAL POST, JULY 18, 4:03 P.M.: Veteran Anaheim Police Officer Brian Hayes died in a plane crash in Winslow, Arizona, Sunday while the 36-year-old was off-duty from his patrol post.
Also killed in the crash was Hayes' 32-year-old girlfriend Nicole Anderson, an officer with the Simi Valley Police Department.
Hayes and Anderson were the only people aboard the Mooney M20F plane that crashed and wound up upside down at the end of the runway at Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport shortly after taking off around 10:10 a.m. Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). They were killed instantly. The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Winslow Police Department are investigating the crash.
The Anaheim Police Department was informed some time Sunday that Hayes may have been among the crash victims, something that was later confirmed.
Hayes began as a Police Explorer with the Anaheim force and later served as a reserve officer. He became a police cadet with the Garden Grove Police Department before Anaheim hired him back as a full-time officer in 1999. During his years in Anaheim, Hayes had been a patrol officer, traffic investigator and police detective. At the time of his death, he was working patrol.
Funeral arrangements for the San Bernardino County resident are pending.
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