Lights blazing, the entourage made its way down a sleepy Deptford street - four police vehicles, a motorcycle, and two other cars.

Perched on the front seat of the first cruiser, the guest of honor smiled and waved.

Gary Wurst was coming home.

On the night of Dec. 27, Wurst, a Deptford patrolman, was on Delsea Drive when a sport-utility vehicle slammed into his cruiser and mounted its roof. The driver, Andrea Paton, 19, who had minor injuries, was charged with reckless driving and failure to maintain a lane.

Wurst, 24, had suffered severe brain, arm, leg, thigh and pelvis injuries. Doctors at Cooper University Hospital prepared his family for the worst.

But after more than a month there and nearly three months at Magee Rehabilitation Center in Center City, Wurst returned home yesterday morning. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Banners were hung outside his blue rancher on Pasadena Street - welcome-home messages from family, cheery declarations of love from a local Girl Scout troop. A metal ramp, newly installed on the cement walkway, was ready.

When Wurst emerged from the police car, a phalanx of his fellow officers stood at the ready.

"Gar, do you want the wheelchair?" one asked.

No, he said. He wanted to walk.

Someone produced his walker, and Wurst made his way up the path, his halting gait spotted by eight cops who joked with the man they call Little Brother.

"Take your time, Gar," one said.

"Yeah, Gar, no crime today. We've got nothing better to do," another added, earning a smile from Wurst.

Wurst wears a patch over his left eye and he has short-term memory problems. But his sense of humor is back - hence the early-morning phone calls to his sisters, singing loudly, cracking jokes.

He can't wait to rejoin the police force, Wurst said.

After crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge and making its way along Route 42, the caravan made a stop at the Deptford police station, where officers, EMS personnel, and schoolchildren waved and clapped for the man whose progress the whole town has monitored.

"Thanks for coming, everyone. I really appreciate everything," Wurst told them. "I plan on working hard to get better."

Wurst will return to Magee every weekday for more rehabilitation, which is expected to continue through the summer.

"That will be his job," said Michele Bustard, Wurst's sister, who is a nurse.

Yesterday, Wurst - who admitted to a little dizziness, nothing major - simply enjoying sitting on his couch and sampling the mountain of goodies his mother and sisters had prepared for him and his squad.

"I guess I'm looking forward to being able to hang out with everyone the most," Wurst said.

His family had removed most of the furniture from the living room, making sure there were wide spaces in which to maneuver if he needed the wheelchair.

His sisters snapped photos and recorded the homecoming on video. They're making scrapbooks of his journey, printing out messages that friends, family and total strangers have sent to an online bulletin board devoted to his progress.

"Twenty-four years ago, we couldn't wait for him to come home from the hospital, and it's almost like that again," said Bustard, referring to the day her new baby brother came home. She was 8 at the time.

During his hospital and rehab stays, Barbara Wurst, Gary's mother, spent most of her days by Gary's side. She couldn't stop smiling yesterday.

At Magee, where patients are sometimes crime suspects in police custody, Wurst's uniformed escort must have raised eyebrows, Barbara Wurst said.

"I'm sure everyone thought they were taking Gary back to prison," she said, laughing.

"He's still got to work hard, but he wants this, and he's doing just great," she said.

Victor Bianco, a friend on the force, stood to the side, watching Gary joke with his sisters.

"It's great to see him home," Bianco said. "Really great."