Growing up in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Michelle Macchiaroli never dreamed of becoming a police officer. Neither did her 76-year-old mother, Barbara Meriwether, who thought Macchiaroli would end up a veterinarian. “She was very good with animals,” Meriwether said, recounting a story about how her daughter couldn’t bear to see a stray dog dying in front of her, so she took the animal to the vet and spent $2,000 to save it. But Macchiaroli’s passion for helping others, especially the vulnerable, was always there, her mother said. “She always was for helping people,” Meriwether said. “That’s all she…