Police, relatives remember Officer Brian Lorenzo: "I never met a person like this in my life"

In an outpouring of grief and memories from relatives and colleagues of fallen Highway Patrol Officer Brian Lorenzo, killed Sunday morning in a crash on I-95, a simple message is clear: Lorenzo was one of the best.

"We all love him. He's the finest person you'd ever meet. He's gonna be really missed," said Andy Chan, who's worked alongside Lorenzo in the unit since 2004, of his fellow officer.

"I wish more people would've known him while he was still living," Chan said. "He don't deserve none of this that just happened."

Lorenzo, who went by "B-Lo" in the unit, was a member of the PPD's elite Highway Patrol Unit for 15 years. He died tragically early Sunday morning when authorities say a drunk driver plowed into him as he rode his Highway Patrol motorcycle north on I-95, headed home to his wife and young son. He also left behind an adult son and daughter, friends and relatives said.

On Sunday, friends, family members and Lorenzo's fellow officers opened up to the Daily News about the fallen hero.

"I wish you would've knew him," Officer Mike Kelly, who worked in Highway with Lorenzo for 15 years, said. "It's unbelievable. He always talked about his family. He was proud."

Fellow patrolmen described Lorenzo, a motorcycle instructor and a member of the Drill Team, as a consummate rider, a good cop and a family man who never lost his temper.

"I'm telling you, I never met a person like this in my life. The guy was just a great human being," Kelly said.

When Lorenzo passed a three-week course in North Carolina earlier this year to become a fully certified motorcycle instructor, said Police Inspector Michael Cochrane, a former Highway Patrol captain who worked with Lorenzo for almost eight years, "They said he could've taught the course down there, that's how well he rode it. That's a very difficult course."

Chan, who learned to ride his own Highway Patrol motorcycle from Lorenzo, said Lorenzo wasn't the type to let anyone fail – he'd come in early or stay late to help train patrolmen to ride.

"He's a person that always helped you out, no matter what," Chan said. "He's not a person who's like 'OK, you fail.' He makes sure he spends some time with you. A lot of guys don't do that, but he's really good. He'll take the time, and he makes sure you learn the proper way to ride."

In Frankford, where Lorenzo grew up, the loss of the 23-year veteran police officer reverberated.

"I still can't believe it," Geri Brehmer said as she nursed a can of Budweiser at Doolittle's Pub on Torresdale Avenue. "He was just a great person. I never met anybody that didn't like him."

Lorenzo played for Doolittle's rough-touch football team in the 1990s. Antonio Lorenzo, Brian Lorenzo's uncle who coached the team, said his nephew had a knack for making acrobatic catches – but somehow couldn't hang on when the quarterback put the ball right between the numbers.

"You'd throw it directly at him and it bounced off!" Lorenzo laughed.

His fellow patrolmen said roll call won't be the same without him.

"Every time you walk in the roll call room, he's always smiling," Chan said. "He walks up and shakes your hand."