Los Angeles County prosecutors have filed murder charges against 27-year-old El Monte resident Steven Zapata -- the man they say was driving the stolen SUV.
Suspect charged with murder in pursuit crash that killed Alhambra police officer
Sanders' fellow officers memorialised him at Tuesday's vigil, sharing stories of a colleague and career cut short.
Weighed with grief, officers of the Alhambra Police Department shielded the flames that burned in Sanders' memory.
"A light of service, a light of courage, a light of joy for the job he loved so deeply," one speaker said.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder under the American flag, officers from agencies across Southern California showed up, as they often do for each other when one of their own has fallen.
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Alhambra community mourns police officer killed in pursuit crash
"I stopped whatever I was doing at that time, and I had to take a second to myself and just try to digest and try to understand why. I still don't get it. It still doesn't seem real," said Officer Triston Gibson with the Long Beach Police Department.
Last Thursday, 28-year-old Sanders picked up an extra shift to cover for a colleague.
Alhambra police began pursuing what they say was a stolen Hyundai SUV. The chase lasted just moments before Sanders' cruiser collided with the SUV at Edgewood Street and Valley Boulevard, killing Sanders and a female passenger in the SUV instantly. Another passenger was injured.
Eyewitness News spoke to young Long Beach officers who had been with Sanders since day one in the academy there.
"His drive, nothing shook him," Gibson said. "He stayed calm under everything."
"He would tell us, 'Why would you guys stop? Don't stop what you're doing. Continue to do the work,'" Officer Jeremy Mabini said. "He would want us to get back out on the streets."
Sanders had served with the Alhambra Police Department for just eight months.
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"We ask for strength for the next moment, direction for the next step," a speaker said at the vigil.
Sonny Stringer knows that need for direction too well.
"You're always thinking about it," he said through tears.
The last time Alhambra officers gathered like this was for his son, Officer Ryan Stringer, who was killed in the line of duty in 2011.
"I was concerned about the parents, the family. You go through hell," Sonny Stringer said.
Now, he hopes to help comfort Sanders' family, who are still very raw in their grief.
Sanders leaves behind a fiancée, several siblings and his mother -- who were all present at the vigil but too grief-stricken to speak.