4,500 Attend Funeral for Slain Deputy

More than 4,500 mourners--relatives, friends, law enforcement officers and government officials--turned out in Downey on Thursday to honor a slain sheriff’s deputy as Gov. Pete Wilson announced the addition of $100,000 to the reward for information leading to the killer.

At the request of Stephen Blair’s fellow officers at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Century station, thousands of Southland motorists drove with their headlights on all day Thursday to show support for law enforcement.

Blair, 31, was shot to death May 12 after he and his partner left their patrol car at a Lynwood park to question suspected gang members seen tossing away what later was found to be a loaded pistol.

Two days later, Eddie Perez, 32, of Lakewood--sought as a suspect in the shooting--surrendered to deputies in Lynwood. Cleared in the shooting, Perez later was charged with possession of cocaine. An unidentified suspect remains at large.

Among those attending Thursday’s services at Calvary Chapel were Sheriff Sherman Block, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and at least 30 police chiefs from throughout California.

After the services, Blair’s body was escorted to Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier by a law enforcement motorcade.

In Sacramento, the governor’s office said that in response to a request from Block, $100,000 in state money was being added to the $50,000 county reward.

Blair leaves his wife and three young sons.