Westbrook Police Chief Janine Roberts will sponsor the 8th annual motorcycle ride in remembrance of two Portland police sergeants who died in 2008 and 2009.

The ride will leave from Parker’s restaurant in Portland at 11 a.m. Saturday, with about 75 motorcycles and about 100 riders expected to participate, Roberts said.

Roberts has held the ride since 2008, when Portland police Sgt. Robert Johnsey died of an accidental gunshot wound to his femoral artery. Johnsey was 37, and left behind a wife and two children.

Less than a year later, the Portland department lost Sgt. Richard Betters after he suffered a heart attack the morning after a tactical call-out. At 52, Betters left a wife and two children.

Roberts, who was a lieutenant in Portland in 2008 when Johnsey died, started the benefit ride to raise money for the family and keep the officer’s memory alive. The event has since incorporated Betters’ family, as well, and has typically raised between $2,800 and $3,500 each year in a five-hour period. All of the proceeds are given to the families.

The ride is roughly 60 miles and will wind through Westbrook, Gorham, Standish, Buxton, Hollis, Limington, Cornish, Baldwin, East Sebago and Naples.


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