Los Angeles SWAT team officer killed in Afghanistan

2 Calif Marines killed in Afghanistan

Associated Press
03/26/10 3:10 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES — They were Marines from the same Southern California city. One was a Los Angeles SWAT team officer on active duty, the other was the son of a Santa Ana police sergeant. Both were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan.

Sgt., Maj. Robert. J. Cottle, 45, a 20-year LAPD veteran, and Lance Cpl. Rick. J. Centanni, 19, both of Yorba Linda, were traveling with two other Marines in an armored truck in the Marjah region of Afghanistan when the blast occurred, LAPD Capt. John Incontro said. The other Marines were seriously injured. No other details of the incident were immediately available.

Cottle and Centanni were stationed with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Cottle had been deployed on active duty since August 2009.

2 Calif Marines killed in Afghanistan