APOLLO, Pa. - The Apollo Bridge was renamed today in honor of a rookie police officer shot to death 25 years ago.

Leonard C. Miller was in his first week on the job when he was lured into following two men who purposely sped by his police cruiser so he'd chase them. When Miller pulled over John Lesko and Michael Travaglia, they shot him on Jan. 3, 1980.

Miller's shooting capped a weeklong rampage in which Lesko and Travaglia killed three others. Both were sentenced to death but appealed. Lesko has since received a new death penalty trial and was again sentenced to death in 1995. Travaglia is set for a new penalty trial in Westmoreland County later this year.

The case is set in Westmoreland County because when Miller drove across the bridge that will now bear his name, he also crossed Armstrong County's border into neighboring Westmoreland County.

First Published: January 3, 2005, 5:00 a.m.