Funeral held for fallen LAPD Officer Roberto Sanchez

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A funeral service was held Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles to honor an LAPD officer killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver earlier this month.

The service for Roberto Sanchez, 32, began at about 9 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Sanchez was a 6-year veteran with the LAPD.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck, fellow officers and family members spoke during the service.

"Roberto was a fine police officer. He was a loving son. He was a good friend. He was a great partner," Beck said.

On May 3, Mynor Enrique Varela, 20, crashed into Sanchez's patrol car, while Sanchez and his partner were pursuing another suspect in Harbor City. Varela was charged with murder and other felonies for allegedly intentionally crashing into the patrol car to help his friend escape officers.

Sanchez is one of five LAPD officers who have died in the past three months, including four in traffic collisions.

"I think I speak for a city that, of course, is sad, but is also angry. We are sick and tired of burying our city's finest through sins of omission or commission," Mayor Eric Garcetti said at the service.

After the funeral, the procession drove on the southbound 110 Freeway in downtown to the 405 Freeway and ended at Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach, where Sanchez was buried.

Sanchez is survived by his wife and parents.