Palm Desert Eatery To Raffle Off Stagecoach Tickets For Family Of Fallen Officer

A Palm Desert sandwich shop will raffle off a pair of tickets to the Stagecoach Country Music festival today to raise money for the family of a Cathedral City police officer killed during a pursuit.

Raffle tickets will be sold at the TKB Bakery & Deli, 39420 Berkey Way, for $20 until 5 p.m. Friday, when the winner will be announced, according to Cathedral City spokeswoman Lynn Mallotto. The winner does not need to be present to get the tickets.

All funds raised will be donated to the Jermaine Gibson Memorial Fund to help the family of the police officer, who died when he in a crash March 19 during a high-speed pursuit in Palm Springs.

The city of Indio donated the tickets, which are worth $600.

Deli owners said Gibson – a Beaumont resident -- would often eat at TKB Bakery & Deli. They held another fundraiser April 8 and donated half of the bakery’s profits that day to the memorial fund.

Gibson had been with the department for 18 months and previously worked as a reserve officer with the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. He served two tours of duty in Iraq while in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Donations can also be made directly to the Jermaine Gibson Memorial Fund at P.O. Box 1131, Cathedral City, Calif. 92235 or dropped off at the Cathedral City Police Department headquarters at City Hall.

City News Service contributed to this report.