700 Fellow Officers Pay Last Tribute : Funeral: James Christopher O’Connor, an 8-year veteran of the CHP, was struck last week as he rode his motorcycle.

About 700 law enforcement officers from throughout California gathered in Camarillo on Tuesday to pay tribute to a 34-year-old Ventura County CHP officer who was killed last week when a car struck his motorcycle.

James Christopher O’Connor was remembered by friends and fellow officers at his funeral service as a friendly man with a dry wit and a calm manner.

The 8-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol often helped officers with less experience, said Sgt. Dane Hayward, O’Connor’s good friend and his supervising officer. O’Connor also assisted motorists in changing tires and doggedly pursued accident investigations.

But O’Connor was known most for his motorcycle prowess, Hayward said in his eulogy.

“There was a standing line that he might not be able to get out of the parking lot in a car without hitting something, but put him on a cycle and he could get across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope,” Hayward said.

It was that grace on the motorcycle that made his death so ironic, Hayward said.

O’Connor died last Thursday afternoon as he and three fellow officers were returning from a motorcycle training session in Santa Maria, CHP officials said.

“A few minutes later, his ride was over,” Hayward said.

O’Connor was riding in the left rear position of a box formation with the other officers--on California 154 outside Santa Ynez--when a car veered into the path of the motorcyclists, officials said.

Three officers managed to swerve, but O’Connor was struck head-on and thrown 60 feet--his helmet knocked loose by the impact, the CHP said.

He was dead on arrival at Santa Ynez Valley Hospital.

The driver of the car, Ella Harrison, 78, of Solvang, is in good condition at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Her husband, Frederick, 79, who was a passenger in the car, is in good condition at Santa Ynez Valley Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman reported.

George Eskin, a Santa Barbara attorney employed to represent Ella Harrison if charges are filed against her, said the woman was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs and he questions whether her car crossed over the double yellow line.

The Buellton office of the CHP is still investigating the accident, a spokesman said.

O’Connor joined the CHP in late 1982 and was assigned to western San Fernando Valley. He worked there with his wife, Carla, also a CHP officer, until he was transferred to Ventura County in August, 1989.

Carla O’Connor and her three children--Evelyn Bittner, 10; Elaine Bittner, 11; and Elizabeth Bittner, 15--were joined by about 100 friends and relatives Tuesday at the St. Mary Magdalen Church.

About 500 CHP officers from throughout California also attended the two-hour service, as did about 200 officers from a variety of other law enforcement agencies. They included police departments from Los Angeles, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Oxnard and Ventura and sheriff’s departments from Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

As O’Connor’s dark gray casket was carried out of the church, the hundreds of officers stood in formation and saluted. Bagpipe music playing “Amazing Grace” was heard as the casket was loaded into a hearse.

Minutes later, the hundreds of officers formed a motorcade to escort the grieving family to Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, where O’Connor was buried.

O’Connor’s name will be inscribed on a memorial at the CHP training facility in Sacramento. He will also be remembered on a memorial in front of the CHP’s Ventura County office.

O’Connor is the fourth CHP officer in Ventura County to be killed in the line of duty, CHP Officer Jim Utter said.

James Vandeweg died July 12, 1945, in a traffic accident as did David Copleman on April 6, 1985. Robert Reed was shot to death by a gunman on Oct. 8, 1957, Utter said.