Father of off-duty DPD officer killed in hit-and-run crash: 'He always put people first'

Dad of off-duty DPD officer killed in hit-and-run crash shares his son's story

Officer Cameron Richardson was heading home from work, traveling northbound on Hoover at Greiner at the time of the crash.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - On Monday afternoon Detroit police announced the arrest of the alleged suspect in a hit-and-run crash that killed an off-duty DP officer.

Cameron Richardson was driving home from his shift at the Ninth Precint — shortly after midnight on Sunday.

He was traveling northbound on Hoover at the intersection of Griener from what witnesses described as a white van was attempting to make a left turn in from of his vehicle, striking the Jeep.

"You know all the time we thought we’d get the call that something happened at work, and here he was just driving home," said his father John Harris.

Richardson — a police officer for just over a year — was an Army veteran, enlisting after high school.

"He decided to go into the military when he was 19 - we were kind of scared for him at that time but it was something he wanted to do, he wanted to serve his county," Harris said.

Officer Cameron Richardson

After serving his country for a decade, he came home to Detroit and decided he wanted to serve his city.

"He wanted to be on the east side where he grew up at," his father said.

"He loved being a police officer, I heard some stories of him interacting with the community,"Harris said. "Getting the community involved."

Interim Police Chief Todd Bettison called Richardson an exemplary officer.

" The way he wears the uniform whether it was serving his county, or this fine city here," Bettison said. "I would say a humble servant who wanted to be a police officer."

"He always put people first before himself and he would give his last - something that he was taught from his mother and I, growing up. And I’m so proud of him."