SEPT 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 9

NASCAR fans pay tribute to slain Daytona
Beach officer before the Coke Zero race.
Officer Jason Raynor died on August 17, nearly two months
after he was shot while on patrol.
By Mary Helen Moore
Daytona Beach News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Race
fans paid tribute to fallen Daytona
Beach Police Officer Jason
Raynor, his patrol car getting
covered in messages and tributes
as it was parked in One Daytona’s
Victory Circle in the leadup
to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race.
Raynor died in the hospital Aug.
17, 55 days after he was shot in
the head while on patrol. The
26-year-old was laid to rest last
week.
Joe Swetz, a former lieutenant
in the Port Orange Police Department,
where Raynor began
his career, stopped by with his
teenage daughter about 1 p.m.
“It’s very somber, surreal,”
Swetz said. “It kind of hits home
that he’s really gone.”
Daytona Beach Police officer
Jason Raynor’s patrol car was
brought to Victory Circle at One
Daytona on Friday, August 27,
2021.
Before working in Daytona
Beach, Raynor was a police
officer in Port Orange, where
he was honored for his heroism
after helping talk a suicidal
woman out of jumping off the
Dunlawton Avenue bridge.
“He was very tenacious. He had
a passion for his job that I hadn’t
seen in a long time,” Swetz said.
Swetz said it’s been a difficult
few weeks, especially for
his friends who remain in law
enforcement, but the way people
came together to show their
sympathy for the Raynor family
and Daytona Beach Police Department
has helped ease the
pain.
“Seeing this outpouring support
from the community in this
time when it seems like everybody’s
against law enforcement,
it’s refreshing,” he said. “It’s a
testament to the impact Jason
had.”
Oliver Dobai, of Oviedo, and
Jayson Aten, of Davenport, were
in the same car club as Raynor,
the Central Florida Mopar Mafia.
They came to town for the
Daytona Car Corral and race, but
stopped by the patrol car to pay
their respects.
“It hits home. It’s sad to think
that our world is the way it is.
I just wish it was a lot better,”
Dobai said.
Both men are Army veterans,
This photo, from 2019, shows
Jason Raynor being sworn in as a
Daytona Beach police officer.
and feel a kinship with Raynor beyond
their shared love for cars.
“We’re all brothers,” Aten said of
the connection between military and
law enforcement. “I’m doing everything
I can not to cry right now.”
Black permanent markers were
tucked into the roses and lilies and
gladioluses wilting in the summer
heat, and both men left personal
notes on the patrol car.
Daytona Beach Police officer Jason Raynor’s patrol car was brought to Victory Circle at One Daytona on Friday,
Aug. 27, 2021. (Tribune News Service)
“R.I.P. ‘Til Valhalla,” Dobai
wrote, referencing the great hall
in Norse mythology where heroes
slain in battle are received.
“Got your six,” wrote Aten, a
former New York City firefighter.
The phrase used by military
and first responders to mean “got
your back,” referencing the position
of 6 o’clock on a clock face.
PATROL CAR TO BE RETIRED
Raynor’s patrol car, #5502, will
be retired by the department
to honor the young man, Police
Chief Jakari Young said.
It includes the signatures of his
mom and sister.
“I’ll always have your six. Your
Big Sister,” was written above
the grille.
“Love You Always, Mom.” was
on the driver’s door.
Raelene Blake and her 8-yearold
daughter Amelia were at One
Daytona to shop and paused to
pay tribute about 2 p.m. They
circled the vehicle slowly, reading
the messages.
“It’s overwhelming,” Blake said.
“We’ve followed the story since
it first started, prayed hard he’d
make it through.”
They have a “Raynor Strong”
sign in their yard in Ormond
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Beach, but Blake said Amelia
doesn’t yet know what happened
to the officer.
“We don’t let her watch news,”
Blake said.
She said she planned to talk to
her on the drive home: “Things
happen. Unfortunately, there are
bad people, and they sometimes
do bad things, but cops are here
to protect us.”
Mother and daughter wrote
notes on the right rear wheel
arch. The child’s message was
simple, punctuated by a smiley
face with hearts for eyes.
“Thank you. Amelia.”
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