San Diego Policer Dies in Bike Crash on Vacation

A six-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department was fatally injured in a dirt bike crash while on vacation in Baker City, Oregon, a police lieutenant said.

San Diego police Officer Matthew Button, 38, was involved in the crash on Sunday and died of his injuries the following day, San Diego police Lt. Kevin Mayer said.

The patrolman, who was hired in October of 2007, was assigned to the Neighborhood Resource team at Central Division and had just recently transferred to the Northeastern Division, Mayer said.

Button, a former Baker City resident, had been riding with a group in the southern Wallowa Mountains when his bike went off the roadway and struck a tree, the Baker City Herald reported. He was not wearing a helmet.

—City News Service