VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Volusia County community came together Thursday to celebrate the life of Senior Deputy Frank Scofield, who was killed in a bicycle crash over the weekend.
First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach hosted the service.
Scofield, 58, died Sunday morning while riding his bicycle along Pioneer Trail west of New Smyrna Beach. Deputies said he was hit by a van when the driver failed to stop at the intersection of Tomoka Farms Road.
[ READ: Volusia deputy fatally struck by van while biking was training for 9/11 memorial ride ]
"If you were running down an alley chasing an armed man, you wanted Frank by your side... if you had a personal tragedy or a crisis in your life, you wanted Frank by your side," Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the service.
Chitwood said Scofield was training to do a 9/11 memorial bicycle ride this fall.
“It's a huge, huge loss for our community,” Chitwood said in a press conference after the crash.
Chitwood said Scofield had been a member of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office for 22 years.
“The pride and joy of his life was being a marine deputy. He loved being out in the water,” Chitwood said. “He loved his boat and he loved nothing more than when I would ask him to take someone out on a ride-along.”
A tweet from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office described Scofield as a “legendary” and “widely respected” member of the department.
Watch below as Sheriff Chitwood speaks at service:
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