CLEVELAND — As far back as his friends can remember, Jacob Derbin was there. Now only good memories remain for Jack Petrick and others who knew and loved the kid nicknamed ‘Wookiee’ at Cuyahoga Heights High School.
“He would make a Chewbacca sound. It was hilarious, but like literally everyone in the high school called him 'Wookiee,'” Petrick said.
“He was just an all-out guy. You could ask anyone. I talked to so many of my friends this week growing up and you couldn’t find anyone to say a bad thing about him. Just everyone loved him. He was a complete goofball.”
During their junior and senior years in high school, Petrick and Jacob would carpool almost every day to a vocational school, where Petrick learned HVAC and Jacob studied to become a police officer.
“Everyone knew he was going to do it. Since he was a kid he was just totally obsessed with it,” Petrick remembers. “He was just totally dedicated to the police and fire service. Like, I can’t say that enough. He loved it.”
When he wasn’t playing football or goofing off, Petrick said Jacob was a helper, who “literally dedicated his whole life to serving people.”
“Great guy. No one could say a bad thing about him,” he said.
So it was no surprise when Jacob followed in his dad’s footsteps and joined the Euclid Police Department as an officer. The shock came when Petrick got a phone call from a mutual friend on Saturday, less than a year after Jacob joined the force and just six years after their high school graduation.
Officer Jacob Derbin was fatally shot while responding to an aggravated menacing report.
“He just wanted to be a police officer his whole life and it’s tragic he wasn’t even on there for a year and something like this happens. It’s just. It’s ridiculous,” Petrick said. “It’s crazy seeing his face on tv—turn on the radio station and people are talking about it on the radio station about someone you knew since you were in pre-k and kindergarten.”
Those memories and Jacob’s legacy is what prompted Petrick, who is a firefighter, and other high school friends to carry Jacob’s name during a firefighter’s walk through Cleveland on Tuesday. Petrick said he hoped they could help turn this very negative incident into a positive.
“When something like this happen, you see the whole community come together,” he said. “No amount of money or fundraiser is ever going to bring Jacob back but if you just help the family out and rally behind them as much as you can, it’s the best thing you can do.”
He encouraged people to donate to a GoFundMe for Jacob’s family and fiancé.
Previous Reporting:
- Candlelight vigils to take place in Euclid, Cuyahoga Heights for fallen police officer Jacob Derbin
- Remembering fallen Euclid police officer Jacob Derbin: Cleveland firefighters complete 4.96-mile memorial walk in his honor
- Suspect in death of Euclid police officer Jacob Derbin died from self-inflicted gunshot wound: Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's report
- Remembering Jacob Derbin: Funeral arrangements announced for fallen Euclid police officer