Alameda County Officials Mourn Deputy Killed in Jail Bus Accident

The men and women of LVPPA express their condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Deputy Michael Foley of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. He died the day after being struck accidentally by a bus at the Santa Rita Jail. His department described Foley as one of its hardest-working deputies and a mentor to younger officers.

It’s been a tough week for law enforcement in California, who have lost three of their own.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Foley died at 11:30 a.m. Thursday morning at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek surrounded by his family following Wednesday’s tragic bus crash at an East Bay jail.

Foley worked for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department for almost 10 years to help put his son through college. Before that, he spent almost 30 years with the Concord Police Department, which is also reeling from his sudden death.

“From what we hear from his supervisors, even though he was 60-years-old, he ran circles around all these young kids,” said Sgt. Ray Kelly.

Foley showed up for work at the Santa Rita jail in Dublin an hour early Wednesday morning. In the dark parking lot at 6 a.m., a bus going to pick up bag lunches for inmates accidentally struck Foley, who suffered serious head trauma that led to his death.

Kelly says the driver was friends with Foley. “He loved Mike. He is also a victim of this.”

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