Funeral plans set for Tampa police officer killed in wrong-way crash

TAMPA — Funeral arrangements are set for the Tampa police officer killed this week in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 275.

Visitation for Master Patrol Officer Jesse Peter Madsen will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Idlewild Baptist Church, 18333 Exciting Idlewild Blvd. in Lutz, according to an online death announcement. A funeral service at the church will follow at 11 a.m. These events are open to the public.

A committal service will be held at 2:30 p.m. the same day at Florida National Cemetery, 6502 S. W. 102nd Ave. in Bushnell. That service is private, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Madsen, 45, was killed early Tuesday when his patrol SUV collided with a wrong-way driver weaving in and out of the northbound lanes of I-275. According to police Chief Brian Dugan, witnesses said Madsen appeared to intentionally veer into the other car’s path “to protect others.”

The wrong way driver, 25-year-old Joshua Montague, was also killed on impact, police said.

Madsen was a combat veteran of the U.S. Marines and spent more than 20 years as a police officer, 16 of them at the Tampa Police Department. Among his survivors are wife Danyelle and the couple’s three children — a 10-year-old daughter and two boys ages 12 and 16.

Idlewild Baptist Church, with its cavernous sanctuary situated on a sprawling campus in northern Hillsborough County, also hosted the funerals for the two other Tampa Bay law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty this year: Hillsborough County sheriff’s Master Cpl. Brian LaVigne in January; and Pinellas County sheriff’s Deputy Michael Magli last month. Like Madsen, LaVigne and Magli were killed in traffic crashes.