Updated 12:45 p.m. – A Montgomery County police officer struck by a suspected drunken driver during a traffic stop last week died Thursday morning after being taken off life support, according to department officials.
Officer Noah Leotta, a 24-year-old county native who became an officer in January 2013, was working as a member of the Holiday Alcohol Task Force around 9:45 p.m. Dec. 3 when he conducted a traffic stop on Rockville Pike near its intersection with Edmonston Drive in Rockville.
Police said Leotta was outside of his vehicle standing in the northbound curb lane when he was struck by a 2012 Honda CRV. The driver of the vehicle, 47-year-old Olney resident Luis Gustavo Reluzco, also hit Leotta’s police cruiser. Reluzco was taken into custody under the suspicion that he may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Police are awaiting the results of a blood test administered to Reluzco.
Leotta suffered a serious head injury and had been in a coma at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. Police said earlier this week he was breathing on his own but remained in critical condition.
On Thursday morning, with no sign that his condition had improved, Leotta was taken off life support. In a message posted Wednesday on the website of the Heroes Memorial Foundation, Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said Leotta’s family made the decision after consultation with medical staff.
“His parents are devastated. They’re both struggling. Spending time with Noah’s parents—they’re just unbelievably strong, but I just can’t imagine what they’re going through because they had to make this decision,” Manger said during an interview Wednesday with Bethesda Magazine.
Leotta grew up in Olney, graduated from Sherwood High School and attended Montgomery College. He interned with the department before becoming an officer, shadowing veteran Officer John Romack, whose primary focus was enforcement of drunken driving laws.
After becoming a patrol officer in the Wheaton-based 4th District, he volunteered for the Holiday Alcohol Task Force, which looks for drivers under the influence and sets up a variety of enforcement strategies during the winter holiday season.
“He’s exactly the kind of cop you want in Montgomery County. He loved his job. He’s so dedicated. His parents did such a great job of creating a great young man who was sensitive and caring. He was perfectly suited to be a cop,” Manger said Wednesday. “To see the profound sadness that these families go through losing a son, a husband, it’s just heartbreaking and it never leaves you. It just never, ever leaves you. That is the most difficult part of this job.”
County Council President Nancy Floreen said Leotta's death makes Thursday "a sad day for all residents of Montgomery County."
"In the days since he was severely injured in the line of duty, we have heard so many people he worked with, and so many in the Olney community where he grew up and lived, talk about his zest for life and love of his job," Floreen said in a statement. "He represents the best of our police department and our community."
Additional reporting by David Frey