Wednesday morning, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeked placed a wreath honoring
Officer Charles Radford Paul III
at the city of Raleigh employee memorial.
Paul, 30, was killed in the line of duty as a result of injuries received in the motorcycle accident.
Capt. M.R. Teem, of the Raleigh Police Department, said the wreck happened at 10:12 a.m. between Rock Quarry and Hammond roads.
Police said Paul, an officer with the department's Traffic Enforcement Unit, was working radar on the inner loop when he was attempting to catch a speeding motorist. Paul lost control of his motorcycle and struck the left guardrail separating the inner and outer loops of Interstate 440.
According to police, Paul was behind a tractor-trailer. They said as he tried to pass, the draft caused Paul's motorcycle to swerve. He then hit a piece of broken ladder and a piece of concrete near the guardrail, causing him to lose control of the motorcycle.
Police are looking for the driver of a burgundy car, possibly a Toyota, that was believed to be the speeding vehicle.
Witnesses to the accident described the vehicle as a low-rider and describe the driver as white male, 18 to 22 years old, wearing a shell necklace.
Police said the driver of the vehicle is considered a witness to the accident, not a suspect.
Paul joined the Raleigh Police Department in July 1995 and was assigned to the Traffic Enforcement Unit for the past 21 months.
Paul routinely patroled around Wakefield Elementary School. Hours before his death, a Wakefiend Pines resident e-mailed Chief Jane Perlov:
"I wanted to express my appreciation Motorcycle Officer Paul has taken on behalf of the citizens, and more importantly, the children of Wakefield Plantation."
Paul is the eighth Raleigh police officer to die in the line of duty. He is survived by his wife and one-year-old daughter.He was a graduate of East Wake High School and East Carolina University.
Funeral services are scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. a Bethlehem Baptist Church in Knightdale.
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