TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Police Department held a memorial ceremony on Wednesday morning to honor Officer Jesse Madsen one year after he died in the line of duty.
Just before 1 a.m. on the morning of March 9, 2021, Officer Madsen, 45, veered into the path of a wrong-way driver on I-275. He was the 32nd police officer to die in the line of duty for the Tampa Police Department.
![Jesse Madsen.png](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f783942/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x720+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5a%2Fa0%2F7f62b5054f669e8a540ea0e132ec%2Fjesse-madsen.png)
![Jesse Madsen.png](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d855c74/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x720+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6f%2Ff3%2F0bbd825540599ffc568ef48f4a79%2Fjesse-madsen.png)
Former Police Chief Brian Dugan said at the time that Madsen purposely entered the wrong-way driver's path in an effort to protect others. The impact killed Madsen and the other driver, who was identified as 25-year-old Joshua Daniel Montague of Golden, Colorado.
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Madsen served with TPD for 16 and a half years. You can watch a video of the event on the department's Facebook page.