Maryland: Montgomery Officer Noah Leotta, hit by suspected drunk driver, dies at 24.

Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta, who was struck last week by a suspected drunken driver, died at a local hospital on Thursday morning, police officials said.

Leotta, 24, grew up in the county and joined the force in early 2013. Colleagues knew him as eager and cheerful.

“Noah loved his job and demonstrated a level of enthusiasm that drove a work ethic and professionalism that we can all aspire to,” County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said. “These qualities made him the man and the police officer that he was.”

Leotta had a passion for trying to get drunken drivers off the road. He recently volunteered for the holiday DUI task force, and was working that detail the night of Dec. 3 when he stopped a car along Rockville Pike in Rockville. After he’d gotten out of his marked cruiser, a Honda CRV slammed into his car and him from behind. The driver of that car, Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, was detained for “suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” police officials said.

He has not been charged as the investigation continues, said Capt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman.

Leotta graduated from Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, Md., and attended Montgomery College. He interned with the Montgomery Police Department, starting in late 2011.

“He shadowed Officer John Romack, whose primary focus was enforcement of impaired-driving laws,” Starks said.

Leotta also was mentored by officers of the department’s Alcohol Initiatives Section.

In 2013, Leotta graduated from the police academy, and was assigned to the department’s section based in Wheaton, working as a patrolman. He recently raised his hand for the alcohol task force, whose members also recruited him, and had been working that detail through the holidays.

Leotta is survived by his parents, sister and other relatives.

On a recent performance review, a supervisor said Leotta’s enthusiasm for the job was “unwavering and infectious.”

“He is humble and selfless and never seeks any recognition for himself,” the supervisor wrote. “Officer Leotta is always willing to help out fellow officers in any way he can.”

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