Contributed photo
Officer Pantera.
Two days after retiring from the Hamden Police Department, veteran bike patrol officer Michael Pantera lost his life in a North Branford car crash.
The Hamden Police Department announced that Tuesday tragedy in a Wednesday email press release, offering the department’s condolences and prayers to Pantera’s family while remembering his service as “a compassionate Police Officer that cared deeply about the Hamden community.”
Pantera served on his hometown’s force for 24 years.
Acting Police Chief Tim Wydra wrote that the veteran former officer “was always ready to lend a hand or volunteer to help an officer or community member. We mourn his loss and remember him as a genuine, loyal, hardworking and kind-hearted person who touched everyone he met. We were all shocked and saddened to hear about his passing.”
Mayor Lauren Garrett also commented in the release, writing that “as a member of the Community Police Division and Bicycle Patrol Unit, Officer Pantera represented the best of our police department.”
“I have ordered all Town flags be lowered to half-mast to honor Officer Michael Pantera.”