On March 14, St. Petersburg Elks held a spontaneous fundraiser and collected $430 for the family of fallen Tampa Police Officer Jess Madsen. He is survived by his wife and three children. Madsen, 45, was killed early March 9 when his patrol car was struck head on by a wrong-way driver on I-275 near Hillsborough Avenue just before 1 a.m. He was responding to reports of a vehicle driving in the wrong direction when he was struck by the car. Officer Madsen and the other driver were both killed in the impact. According to Police Chief Brian Dugan, witnesses said Madsen appeared to intentionally veer into the other car's path to protect others. Officer Madsen had served with the Tampa Police Department for 16 years.