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SALT LAKE CITY -- For the families of one fallen and five injured Ogden police officers, a little help came by way of a demolition derby.
Crash for Cash, held at the Golden Spike Arena brought out about 1600 people Saturday, each of them helping the officers with their price of admission. Though organizers are still counting the cash from admissions, they estimate the derby raised between $7,000 and $8,000 for the officers.
The race organizer, John Gullo, managed to put together Crash for Cops in five days with the help of volunteers. Typically, he said, a derby of this size would take about 45 days to put together and advertise. The effort was moved along by volunteers and drivers eager to help the families of the officers. Nearly 40 drivers from five different states donated their time in the off-season race.
"I called my partner on Thursday, and said, ‘Can we call a couple of drivers and maybe get 12 cars and throw together an event?" And in 24 hours we had 40 drivers calling us. It was absolutely overwhelming," Gullo said.
Community members were just as willing to help.
"We just want to jump in and help, whatever we can for what happened to this community," said Julie Lee, a volunteer at event. "It's hit everyone pretty hard."
From those who were able to attend the event, a similar enthusiasm was expressed.
"Very proud to be a part of that and to see (something like this)," said Scott Armstrong. "It really stands out and says a lot for the people and their humanity when things like this happen."
But perhaps the most enthusiasm came from within the organizer's family.
"You can't say it's a hobby," Gullo said. "It's definitely a lifestyle. It's just in our blood -- our whole family drives, our friends drive -- it's just part of what we do."
Gullo's wife helped organize and his son stepped in as one of the drivers.
