Phoenixville Officer Arthur Scena was killed in a crash after leaving the funeral for another officer

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (WPVI) — Phoenixville police are in mourning after a crash claimed the life of one of their own.

Officer Arthur Scena IV died Thursday evening in Warminster, Bucks County.

Scena, 39, was leaving the funeral of a fellow police officer. He was riding his motorcycle onto the roadway when he was hit by a passing car.

Scena died instantly.

Those who knew him said Scena will be remembered as a public servant who loved being a police officer almost as much as he loved his family.

Chief Brian Marshall says when he heard what happened, his mind went into a tailspin.

“Devastating. I got the call around 7:30 that morning, checked my text messages and made a few phone calls,” Marshall said. “It’s just surreal. The whole thing is surreal.”

Mayor Peter Urscheler told Action News the circumstances of the crash are truly heartbreaking.

“To have this tragic accident happen while he was off duty, literally coming from the funeral of another officer who had just passed away from cancer,” Urscheler said. “He had helped raise almost $30,000 for that officer’s family.”

A GoFundMe page has since been set up online to support Scena’s wife and two little girls aged 5 and 13.

Scena graduated from the Montgomery County Police Academy in 2010. He was a correctional officer at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility and worked as an officer for the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the Chester Police Department before joining the Phoenixville ranks in 2019.

“Art was actually one of the first police officers that we appointed and hired right after I became mayor,” Urscheler said. “I remember sitting there across from him during the interviews wearing a pair of handcuff cufflinks that his wife had bought him and forced him to wear.”

‘He liked to come over and talk. He had a great sense of humor. When he came to work he would always talk a little bit about his family,” Marshall said. “People person. Heart of gold.”

“Our entire police department has been destroyed,” he continued.

Scena will be buried next week in Doylestown.