The Seekonk Police Department is mourning the death of one of its own.
The department identified Patrolwoman Kourtny DeForitis as one of two victims who died in an off-duty motorcycle crash early Saturday morning in Somerset, Chief David Enos announced on Facebook Sunday.
DeForitis, 28, of East Taunton, had been the passenger on the motorcycle that collided into a vehicle that subsequently crashed into a telephone pole at the Route 103 rotary around 1:15 a.m. Saturday, according to authorities.
The driver of the motorcycle, Daniel Glover, 44, of Easton, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
After graduating from the Cape Cod Municipal Police Academy in 2021, DeForitis spent more than two years working as a community outreach officer under the patrol division for the department, which serves nearly 16,000 residents in the Bristol County town, bordering Rhode Island.
“Kourtny had a particular fondness for the youth of Seekonk and could be found playfully interacting with them in the schools and at community events, usually with a bright smile on her face and a contagious laugh,” Seekonk police stated in its Facebook post.
Preliminary findings from the investigation, being conducted by Somerset police, indicate that the motorcycle drove the wrong way into the rotary before colliding with the vehicle, Somerset Chief Todd Costa said in a statement.
Somerset emergency responders brought DeForitis to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead, Costa said. The driver of the vehicle was also taken to a nearby medical facility “out of an abundance of caution,” he said.
The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section Unit and detectives assigned to the Bristol County District’s Attorney Office are providing Seekonk police assistance with the investigation, which remains active and on-going.
“The men and women of the Seekonk Police Department offer their sincere condolences to Ptlw. DeForitis’ family and friends, as we also mourn the loss of one of our own,” the Facebook post read. “Rest in peace badge 3334, we’ll take the watch from here.”