Hundreds of bikers honor detective killed in crash
By Leah Phillips
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ANDERSON COUNTY, South Carolina (WYFF) — Family, friends, and fellow public safety officers honored the life and legacy of Det. Mark Garrett, while attending his funeral on Sunday.
The service was held at NewSpring Church in Anderson, but before even arriving at the building, streets were lined with supporters waiting on the procession.
The procession honored many aspects of Garrett’s life. Firetrucks and police vehicles, paying tribute to his early career working in fire service, before transitioning to law enforcement back in 2009.
One unique aspect of Garrett’s life also made an appearance, at the very tail-end of the procession: hundreds of bikers, riding in his honor.
“He was a cop, but he was a biker. I mean, there’s no other way to look at it. Honest to God, I mean, he would walk up to you and give you a hug,” said Jason Welliver, one of the bikers in Sunday’s procession, who also called Garrett a friend.
“The good die young, I mean, that’s the truth. You just never know,” Welliver said.
Jim Dennis, who didn’t know Garrett personally, still wanted to join in on the ride after hearing about the impact the detective had made on the people he knew.
Dennis said the procession was the largest he had ever ridden in, stating, “It was a good one. It was very big, I’d say at least a mile or more of two rows of motorcycles, and the whole procession must’ve been a couple miles long.”
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