BRISTOL, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Law enforcement officers from across the country came to Wade Funeral Home in Bristol on Wednesday afternoon to pay their respects to Pennsylvania State Trooper Martin Mack along with his family and friends.
Mack was one of the two state troopers who were struck and killed by a vehicle last Monday morning on I-95 in South Philadelphia.
Longtime Bristol resident Lily Rein was at the viewing for Mack. Her children and Mack’s kids attend St. Mark’s School.
“What are they going to do without Daddy? The kids are so little,” Rein said. “I don't know how to tell the kids, because your friend’s daddy is gone forever.”
“Just by thinking about it, my tears,” she explained, ”I just can't stop crying.”
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Maria Farrell said her boyfriend, who is also a state trooper, personally knew Mack and Sisca.
“It could happen to any of them, and just seeing someone close to them pass is really hard,” Farrell said.
“They're doing as best as they can. You know, I couldn't even imagine what they're going through.”
“It's just really hard to see it, and I would have never dreamed of that happening,” she added. “That could be me in this situation.”
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An allegedly drunk driver struck and killed troopers Mack and Branden Sisca and another man, Reyes Oliveras, on I-95 southbound near the stadium district. Jayana Webb is accused of the crime, and was charged with 20 counts.
“When are people going to learn not to [drive drunk]?” Farrell asked. “It could have been avoided.”
Adam Reed, director of communications for Pennsylvania State Police, said state troopers work under some of the most dangerous conditions.
Related Jawncast which includes the charges brought against Jayana Webb after the deadly collision with the state troopers and another man on I-95 southbound.
“Law enforcement inherently works a lot along the side of the road, whether it's a busy highway or rural street, and it's one of the more dangerous places that we go to on a regular basis,” Reed said.
“Whether we're assisting somebody like Trooper Mack was, or we’re pulling over a speeder, you’re feet away quite often from traffic traveling 60-plus miles an hour from you. So it is an inherently dangerous part of our job.”
Pennsylvania law requires drivers to both slow down and steer clear from a law enforcement vehicle in such a situation.
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Mack’s funeral will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Michael the Archangel Church on Levittown Parkway in Levittown. A funeral procession will then go to Our Lady of Grace Cemetery in Langhorne for a public interment.
Sisca's public viewing is scheduled for Boyd-Horrox-Givnish Funeral Home on Germantown Pike in Norristown on Friday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., and again from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. His funeral is scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday at Perkiomen Valley High School, his alma mater, in Collegeville.
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