The body of a Los Angeles policeman who was killed while serving in Afghanistan has been returned to California.

Hundreds of Marines and police officers were on hand Monday as the flag-draped coffin of 45-year-old Robert J. Cottle was flown into the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base in Orange County.

Cottle was a 20-year LAPD veteran and a member of the SWAT team. A sergeant major in the Marine reserves, Cottle served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and returned there last August.

The Yorba Linda resident and 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Rick Centanni, also of Yorba Linda, were killed by a roadside bomb last month.

Cottle leaves a wife and 9-month-old daughter.