Fallen officer honored
By Katie McDevitt and Gary Grado
Tribune
May 2, 2006
Tyler Fahlmans father turned him in for underage drinking three years ago to teach him a lesson, court records show. But that lesson wasnt learned.
The 20-year-old Tempe man was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol three days later, records show.
Fahlman spent a night in jail and did community service, only to later plead guilty to underage possession of alcohol and rack up a couple of speeding tickets.
Fifteen Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and one victims impact panel later, Fahlman is being held in Maricopa Countys Lower Buckeye Jail on suspicion of manslaughter and hit-and-run after being involved in a crash Saturday in Tempe that fatally injured Gilbert police officer Rob Targosz, 37, while the officer was riding his motorcycle to work.
While Fahlman is being held on a $270,000 bond, the Gilbert Police Department is making funeral arrangements for its first officer to die in the line of duty and remembering a 12-year veteran of the department who was married just nine months ago.
Any time I asked him about his wife, hed grin ear-to-ear and say, Im a lucky guy, Gilbert Police Chief Tim Dorn said. He liked to catch bad guys, but the side a lot of the public didnt see was his caring side and how much he cared for his family.
Dorn said Targosz regularly came up with solutions to problems. He had just finished a proposal for a new DUI van and got a town code passed. He had also heard that officers would like to wear protective vests outside their uniforms and made it happen.
Targosz, who regularly participated in the Arizona Peace Officers Memorial for Fallen Officers, was remembered Monday at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza in Phoenix at the 33rd annual memorial service. He normally would have attended the event, but instead only his memory was there.