{"id":63931,"date":"2025-12-18T03:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/63931\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T03:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:05:11","slug":"police-officer-andy-chan-critically-hurt-in-crash-6-years-ago-laid-to-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/63931\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Officer Andy Chan, critically hurt in crash 6 years ago, laid to rest"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jack Tomczuk<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Police Officer Andy Chan, a beloved member of the department\u2019s Highway Patrol division who died more than six years after being grievously injured in a crash, was laid to rest Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Chan was riding his PPD motorcycle to work on the night of Jan. 3, 2019, when the driver of a minivan struck him on Rhawn Street near Pennypack Park in the Northeast<\/a>. The collision is believed to have been accidental.<\/p>\n

He suffered a traumatic brain injury and required around-the-clock care for the remainder of his life. Chan died Dec. 2<\/a> at age 55.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe prayed every day for recovery, for him to be restored,\u201d his wife, Teng, said through tears at Tuesday\u2019s funeral service. \u201cWe fought alongside him. We fought. It was time. He has a higher calling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan had wanted to join Highway Patrol from the time he was a child growing up in Chinatown, attracted by the elite unit\u2019s sleek leather jackets, boots and motorcycles. He was a proud member of the squad and greeted people by saying \u201cHighway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highway patrolmen carried Chan\u2019s casket down the steps of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, following his funeral Mass.<\/p>\n

While he considered joining the Catholic priesthood in his younger days, Chan found his true vocation in being a police officer, according to his pastor, the Rev. Tom Betz, of Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic Church.<\/a><\/p>\n

Those who knew him said he relished regaling folks with stories from his PPD shifts, and Teng said he would not hesitate to make an off-duty arrest, if necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are officers who work the job, and there are officers who are the job,\u201d Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said. \u201cAndy was the latter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan and his partner, Kyle Cross, were among the first on the scene of the 2015 Amtrak derailment in Port Richmond that left eight people dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe described the scene as utter chaos. Nobody knew what to do,\u201d Teng said. \u201cPeople were hurt. People were screaming. He, that day, was the calm in the storm. He brought order to the chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chan, a graduate of Roman Catholic High School, began his law enforcement career as a mall cop at the Gallery, Betz said. He proceeded to work as an officer in Ocean City, New Jersey, and at the Philadelphia Housing Authority before joining the PPD in 1995.<\/p>\n

His initial years were spent in the 39th Police District, and Chan received his much-anticipated call up to Highway Patrol in 2004.<\/p>\n

He and Teng have three children \u2013 Thaisen, Adam and Adrianna. Thaisen, inspired by his father, is an active member of the Army National Guard, Teng said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s service had all of the pomp and circumstance of a police funeral, with law enforcement personnel traveling from around Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and beyond and braving frigid conditions.<\/p>\n

Mayor Cherelle Parker spoke inside the church, and City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday and other dignitaries attended.<\/p>\n

Bethel posthumously awarded PPD\u2019s Medal of Excellence to Chan, and he renamed the commendation in his honor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jack Tomczuk Philadelphia Police Officer Andy Chan, a beloved member of the department\u2019s Highway Patrol division who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33390,34175,13779,69,71,70,2245],"class_list":["post-63931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-andy-chan","tag-highway-patrol","tag-kevin-bethel","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-philadelphia-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}