BREMERTON — The son of State Patrol Trooper Tony Radulescu, who was fatally shot on a highway in Kitsap County last week, said his father was his best friend, his role model and a hero.

"I don't think I know a person anywhere who doesn't love him," said Erick Radulescu, "... he was a saint."

The 22-year-old Army medic spoke briefly with the media Saturday at a fire station in Bremerton about his father's life, his career calling and his death, saying he found consolation in knowing that his father died doing a job he loved.

"He loved people; he loved reaching out to people; he loved making people's lives better and he had a knack for being able to do his job in a way that, even people he was doing negative things to, could come out of it feeling better about themselves and about the police and about everything in life."

Tony Radulescu was fatally shot during a traffic stop on Highway 16 near Gorst shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday.

The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office says the man who shot him, felon Joshua Jearl Blake, fled after shooting Radulescu and then killed himself as a police SWAT team moved in on him.

Five people have been arrested for assisting Blake after Radulescu's death, including a former girlfriend, Jessi Leigh Foster. She was arrested Thursday and charged Friday in Kitsap County District Court with first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Prosecutors say Blake called Foster for help shortly after the shooting and that she met him at a residence on Scofield Road in rural Port Orchard, where she made numerous efforts to arrange an escape for him.

She is being held in Kitsap County Jail on $500,000 bail.

The other four people arrested were taken into custody Friday and are being held in Kitsap County Jail, also on $500,000 bail, for investigation of rendering criminal assistance, according to Sgt. Ken Dickinson, a spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office.

One of them, an 18-year-old woman, is alleged to have been in Blake's Ford pickup when he shot Radulescu, according to a news release Dickinson sent out Friday night.

The others are a 26-year-old woman and two men, ages 30 and 37, he said.

It was not immediately clear what investigators allege they did to help Blake, but they are expected to be arraigned in Kitsap County Superior Court on Monday. The allegations then will be made public.

Radulescu's son said that while revenge is "not important" to him, it is appropriate that the people involved be held accountable.

"It's the law," he said. "I think you are supposed to do the right thing." At the same time, he said, he hopes "everyone that's been affected by this is able to get through it well."

Tony Radulescu, 44, has been described by colleagues, friends and relatives as a big-hearted man with a constant smile.

He was known as "Trooper Tony" in the communities surrounding Bremerton, where he spent his entire 16-year career with the State Patrol.

Radulescu, who was divorced, was born in Romania and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, with his father.

He served in the Army and put down roots in the Pacific Northwest after leaving the service, his sister-in-law said last week.

Erick Radulescu, who spent part of Saturday receiving condolences at an informal gathering for his father at the State Patrol headquarters in Bremerton, said he had never before considered working for the State Patrol.

But now, to honor his father, he may apply when he finishes his military commitment. Radulescu, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, has been twice deployed.

Up until the end of the news conference, when he talked about how proud he was of his father and a single tear ran down his face, Erick Radulescu was calm and poised.

He said he has had to work hard to keep his emotions at bay because he feels he needs to be strong for his family, as his father would have been. But, he said, the time for grieving will come.

"He was everything: He was a hero, he was the biggest role model in my life, he was really my best friend. I think he was the 'go-to guy' for everything I've ever needed."

Staff reporter Emily Heffter and news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com