Officer Lauren Craven had only been with the La Mesa Police Department for eight months, but colleagues say she embodied the kind of integrity and empathy that defined the best in public service. Late Monday night, the 25-year-old officer was struck and killed by an oncoming car while helping motorists involved in a freeway collision.

According to the City of La Mesa, the crash happened around 10:24 p.m. on October 20. Craven was driving eastbound on Interstate 8, returning from San Diego Central Jail, when she stopped near Fairmount Avenue to assist two motorists who had been in an accident. While she was helping them, another vehicle approached and hit her.

Craven died at the scene. “Officer Craven’s actions in her final moments exemplified her unwavering dedication to service and the safety of others,” the La Mesa Police Department wrote in a public statement. “Her tenacity, courage, and compassion inspired her peers and strengthened her community.”

Chief Ray Sweeney described her as “a light.” “Her positivity was immediate and genuine,” he said. “Whether helping a colleague, answering a stranger’s question, or stepping into a difficult call, she led with compassion, courage, and professionalism.”

Craven joined the department in February 2024 and worked in the patrol division. The department said her death “has left a hole that cannot be filled.” The CHP, which is investigating the crash, also released a statement offering condolences and calling her actions that night “a reflection of the highest ideals of our profession.”

Speaking from their hometown of Bend, Oregon, her father, David, remembered his daughter as “a best friend” — someone whose drive to help others was born out of her own painful experiences.

He said Lauren decided to pursue law enforcement after surviving a traumatic assault in college. “A kind detective helped her through it,” he recalled. “She said, ‘I want to dedicate my life to being that good cop for anybody who needs me.’”

She achieved that dream, he said, even though it cost her life. “Had she failed that test? I’d still have her,” he said. “But she would not have achieved her dream. A lot of people never get to a place where they’re loving what they’re doing and doing what they seem to be born to do. She did.”

Craven had just celebrated her 25th birthday two weeks before her death. Her father said he last spoke to her as she drove to work the night she was killed. “It’s going to be hard for a long time,” he said, “but I want people to know what was in Lauren’s heart — the compassion she showed everybody she came in contact with.”