PHOENIX — While the community continues to mourn Paul Rutherford the police officer, we're starting to learn more about Paul Rutherford the man, and one of his passions was martial arts.
Rutherford died Thursday after he was struck by a car while investigating another crash.
Lieutenant Wayne Dillon knew Rutherford for almost 15 years. They bonded over their shared love of martial arts.
In fact, one of Dillon's favorite memories is watching Rutherford practice his moves in front of him when the two used to work at their old precinct.
"In the middle of the street, in the middle of the night, somewhere in Cactus Park, you had a few officers, or just us two and I'm standing there as a new sergeant and I've got this officer going through all these moves and showing me his forms in the middle of the street," Dillon recalled.
Rutherford was a fifth-degree black belt in karate.
Mike and Heather Wall knew Rutherford through martial arts as well.
"He was always willing to give," Mike Wall said. "He would come in around 8 o'clock and around 4 o'clock, he'd say 'I've got to go. I have a ten-hour shift to do tonight.' It always impressed me that he spent all day with me and he was going to be working all night long at the same time."
The police department doesn't ever forget any of its fallen brothers, and when Lt. Dillon thinks of Rutherford, it will always bring a smile to his face.
"Every time I think about Paul, watching this tall skinny, dude in the middle of the street in uniform and thinking about the possibility of a neighbor opening their window in the middle of the night to get a breeze, and seeing two officers, one standing there, and the other one doing martial arts forms in the middle of the street," said Dillon.