Warsaw Police Department announced the procession route for honorary police officer Drake Price, 16.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Warsaw Community Church, 1855 S. County Farm Road, Warsaw, with doors opening for one hour prior.
The procession, which will begin at the conclusion of the services, will be led by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department motorcycles and the WPD.
Upon leaving the church, the procession will go north on County Farm Road to Ind. 15, continuing north into the city, according to a news release from WPD. It will stay north on Buffalo Street, passing Warsaw City Hall, turning east onto Center Street. The procession will continue east through the city until Lincoln Street, turning north and passing Lincoln Elementary. It will turn east onto Fort Wayne Street so that it may pass by the WPD. The procession will continue until Fort Wayne Street ends at Parker Street, turning south on Parker Street. Back at Center Street, it will go east and merge onto U.S 30 (Lake City Highway) where the procession will continue to Albion with the assistance of other jurisdictional law enforcement.
While it passes by Price’s elementary school and the police department, the procession will not stop.
WPD Chief Scott D. Whitaker, along with the entire WPD, wishes to thank the community for their support of Price’s family, as well as his law enforcement family during this difficult time. “Your messages and sentiment have been heard and greatly appreciated,” the release states.
Price unexpectedly died Friday at his home.
In March 2017, the city of Warsaw made Price, then a fourth-grader at Lincoln Elementary School, an honorary police officer. Price watched the ceremony from his hospital bed at Riley Hospital for Children. Drake, who wanted to be a police officer, was being treated for a brain tumor. When Price returned home, he was given a “hero’s welcome.” Lincoln Elementary designed “Drake Strong” T-shirts to raise money for him and his family.
On Feb. 2, 2018, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer proclaimed that day as Drake Price Day.
Price was diagnosed in February 2017 with super mass craniopharyngioma, basically a tumor about the size of a fist which sat on his optic nerve. It was later discovered he had Moyamoya disease, which is a cerebral arterial disease characterized by constriction of certain arteries at the base of the brain.
He was known for his love of emergency services, especially the police. More than 5,000 police patches from around the world were sent to him to be made into quilts, pillows and curtains. While he was at Riley, Price was “adopted” by the Indianapolis Police Department. He was adopted by the Warsaw Police Department, and the Chicago Police Department as well. Numerous city and county law enforcement officers came to see him in their police cars.
On Aug. 29, 2019, at Lincoln Elementary, U.S. Sen. Todd Young presented Price, then 13, a 2018 Riley Champion and a student at Lakeview Middle School, with a police patch from the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C.
A GoFundMe page was started over the weekend for Drake Price’s family to help cover the 16-year-old’s final expenses.
Started by Kimm Silveus, who said she’s a close friend of the family, it seeks to raise $10,000. It can be found on gofundme.com under “Drake Price Funeral Assistance.”
