Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
August 24, 2003

K-9 Marco, a nine-year old Belgian malinois, was shot and killed when Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a family disturbance call in Willowbrook. The suspect reportedly whirled around with what appeared to be a weapon when Sheriff's Deputies shot and killed the suspect. Marco was trying to subdue the suspect when he was shot.

California Highway Patrol - Riverside
August 27, 2003

Officer Distel was killed in a traffic accident after his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck in Woodcrest. The accident is still under investigation but reportedly the pickup truck, pulling a trailer, turned left in front of Officer Distel. Officer Distel was 31 years old and is survived by his wife and newborn baby.

Buena Park P.D.
September 21, 2003

Corporal Pinchot died on September 21st of injuries he received in an on-duty traffic accident on his police motor. On June 13, 2003, Corporal Pinchot was working a traffic enforcement detail in Buena Park. He was traveling eastbound Orangthorpe attempting to catch up to a traffic violator when he was struck from behind by a Nissan Maxima. Officer Pinchot is survived by his wife, parents, 2 brothers, 3 sisters and three stepchildren.

Santa Maria CA Police Department
October 30, 2003

Officer Ramos was killed by an apparent accidental discharge of his firearm while preparing for his shift as a motorcycle officer. The round entered Officer Ramos’ abdomen causing fatal injuries. Officer Ramos was 52 years old and joined the Santa Maria Police Department in January 1984. He served as an undercover narcotics officer and most recently as a motorcycle officer. Officer Ramos is a recipient of his department’s Distinguished Service Award and is survived by his wife, Yolanda and their two children.

Novato Fire District
October 30, 2003

Engineer Steven Rucker died while trying to save a home from the oncoming Cedar Fire, the largest fire in the history of the State of California. Engineer Rucker was 38 years old and served with the Novato Fire District for 11 years as a firefighter/paramedic, and previously as a paramedic for American Medical Response in Concord. Engineer Rucker is survived by his wife, Cathy, and his two children.

California Highway Patrol - Weaverville
November 2, 2003

An off-duty officer found Officer Robert Coulter near his patrol car in the parking lot of the Trinity River Area CHP Office in Weaverville. The CHP has determined that an accidental shooting when Officer Coulter’s shotgun fired as it was being placed in its cradle in the patrol car. Officer Coulter was 39 years old and was a CHP officer since December 1989. He is survived by his wife, Kelly, and his two children, Kyle and Delia.

Burbank, CA Police Department
November 15, 2003

Officer Pavelka responded to a backup request from fellow Officer Gregory Campbell. Officer Campbell had stopped a suspected stolen vehicle with two male occupants. A gun battle ensued and Officer Pavelka was struck several times and died during surgery. Officer Campbell was seriously wounded. One suspect died at the scene and the second escaped and was captured in Mexico on Thanksgiving Day. Officer Pavelka, who had been a Burbank Police Officer for only 10 months, was the first Burbank officer to die from gunfire in the past 83 years. He is survived by his girlfriend Jessica, his mother, father and brother Nick.

California Highway Patrol - San Diego
November 19, 2003

Officer Dean Beattie was on routine motor patrol when he collided with a slow moving truck. Officer Beattie, a 24-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, suffered massive head injuries. He was transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where efforts to save him failed. He was the third motor officer in the San Diego area to lose his life in the line of duty in recent months. Officer Beattie was 46 years old, and survived by his wife of six years, Rosa, and their children, Farrah, 19, Brett, 17, Cindy, 17, Annelise, 13, Amanda, 12 and Tawny, 10.

California Highway Patrol - Bishop
December 30, 2003

On the morning of December 30, 2003, Officer Dean Paul Pino, on a remote section of U.S. Highway 395 in Inyo County, was parked on the shoulder of the highway writing a citation to the operator of a truck he stopped. A late model SUV, driven by Carley Crystal, 20, of San Diego, veered onto the shoulder at a high rate of speed, striking Officer Pino’s patrol car in the rear. The patrol car lunged forward coming to a rest under the bed of the truck that had been stopped. Officer Pino suffered massive injuries and was airlifted to Loma Vista Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Officer Pino, a 23-year veteran of the CHP, is the fourth CHP officer killed in the line of duty this year. The driver of the SUV was suspected of driving under the influence. She received minor injuries and was booked for vehicular manslaughter. Her two passengers were also injured. Officer Pino was 48 years old and is survived by his wife Carol, and daughters Jennifer Pino-Olin, 24, Elizabeth, 22, and Alexandra, 15.

Westminster, CA Police Department
January 29, 2004

Motor Officer Steven Phillips became the first Westminster Police Officer killed in the line of duty when a car pulled in front of his motorcycle. The driver of the car made a “California stop,” failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.

Officer Phillips’ motorcycle struck the driver’s side door of the car, killing the driver as well. Officer Phillips was 46 years old and a Westminster Police Officer for 17 years. He is survived by his wife Sandy, an employee of the Corona, CA Police Department.

Los Angeles Police Department
February 20, 2004

Officer Ricardo Lizarraga, and his partner, Officer Joel Ruiz, were flagged down by a woman asking the officers to remove her abusive boyfriend from her apartment. The officers went to the apartment and approached the suspect to pat him down. The suspect fled to a back bedroom and returned with a gun firing multiple shots. Officer Lizarraga was shot in the abdomen, just below the edge of his body armor, died after surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The suspect, a gang member with convictions for drug sales, arson, domestic violence and robbery was on parole, was captured several hours later. Officer Lizarraga was 30-years old and a three-year veteran of the LAPD. He is the first on-duty homicide of a LAPD officer since 1998 and the first in the Newton Division since 1945. He is survived by his wife, Joyce.

San Francisco CA Police Department
April 10, 2004

On the evening of April 10, 2004, 29-year old Officer Isaac Espinoza, an eight-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, and his partner, 38-year old Officer Barry Parker, were patrolling the troubled Bayview District. The officers stopped their patrol vehicle, calling out to a man acting suspiciously. The man turned and began firing at the officers with an AK-47. Both officers were transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where Officer Espinoza succumbed to his wounds, and Officer Parker was treated for a wound to his ankle. The shooting suspect, David Hill, a 21-year old gang member, was arrested at San Ramon Regional Medical Center, where he had gone to seek treatment for his “mental illness.” San Francisco’s newly elected District Attorney, Kamala Harris, has declared that in keeping with a campaign promise, she will not be seeking the death penalty in Officer’s Espinoza murder. Officer Espinoza is survived by his wife Renata and three-year old daughter Isabella.

Merced CA Police Department
April 15, 2004

Officer Stephan Gray, a seven-year veteran of the Merced Police Department, made a traffic stop on the evening of April 15. Cuitlahuac Tahua “Tao” “Bullet” Rivera, a passenger in the car, ran as Officer Gray attempted to search him. Officer Gray chased the suspect. Witnesses say that the suspect turned and fired twice, hitting Officer Gray above his body armor hiting an artery, and in the right arm. Officer Gray died shortly after his arrival at Community Campus of Mercy Medical Center Merced. At this writing, the suspect is being sought. The 21-year old suspect, Rivera, has an adult police record dating back to 2000, which includes possessing a firearm, probation violation and possession of rock cocaine. His sister has also been recently convicted of battery against a peace officer. Officer Gray was assigned to the special operations unit and worked street-level narcotics and gang violence suppression. Officer Gray is the first officer killed in the line of duty since the Merced Police Department was founded in 1889 and is survived by his wife and three children.

California Highway Patrol Santa Fe Springs Office
April 21, 2004

Solano County Sheriff’s Department
April 23, 2004

Deputy John Sandlin and his partner, Deputy Jason Roper, were assisting another deputy on a traffic stop when another vehicle passed them at a high rate of speed. The deputies returned to their vehicle and gave chase. The wheels of the police vehicle went off the side of the road surface, overturned, and Deputy Sandlin was thrown from the vehicle. A second deputy arrived and performed CPR on Deputy Sandlin, who was pronounced dead at NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield, CA. Deputy Roper was treated for minor injuries and released. Sixty-six year old, Deputy Sandlin was an unpaid, volunteer reserve deputy with the Solano County Sheriff’s Department for 20-years, where he worked with the aviation squadron, patrol duties, and guarding prisoners. He won the agency’s Purple Heart and distinguished service medals for preventing an inmate from escaping from a hospital jail ward in 2003. He was badly injured in preventing the inmate from escaping. Deputy Sandlin was a Navy veteran and retired as an employee at Westinghouse Electric Co., volunteering between 500 and 600 hours per year as a reserve deputy. He is survived by his wife, two adult children and grandchildren.

Tuolumne County CA Sheriff’s Department
May 31, 2004

Deputy David Grant was killed in a patrol vehicle accident while rolling Code 3, lights and sirens, to a fiery private plane crash near Columbia Airport. Preliminary reports from the California Highway Patrol, who is investigating the accident, say that Deputy Grant had tried to avoid a truck that had started to turn in front of him, northbound on Highway 49 near Parrotts Ferry Road. The patrol car scraped the front bumper of the pickup, went off the west side of the road, striking a tree on the west shoulder of the highway. Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free him from the wreckage, transported him to Columbia Airport. He was transported to Sonora Regional Medical Center, where he died from injuries. Deputy Grant had been a law enforcement officer for 28-years, 15 of them with the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department and was 46 years old. It has been 37 years since Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department has lost an officer in the line of duty. Deputy Grant is survived by his wife “Richie”, and four children, Justin, Rory Williams, Jennifer and Whitney.

California Highway Patrol - San Bernardino
June 3, 2004

Officer James Goodman was in a high speed pursuit of a hit and run suspect when his motorcycle collided with a mini-van that had entered an intersection in his path. He was transported to Loma Linda Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Officer Goodman received the CHP Medal of Valor for his courageous acts during the Loma Prieta earthquake in October, 1989. He removed his Sam Browne and helmet and crawled into a portion of the collapsed freeway structure to reach citizens under the debris. Officer Goodman is survived by his wife Patricia and two sons, Jacob and Joshua.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
June 15, 2004

On June 9, Deputy Michael Arruda, along with three additional deputies from the City of Industry station, responded to a “man with a gun” call in Hacienda Heights. Deputies were confronted by 51 year-old Paul Smith, who came out shooting. Deputies returned fire. In the moment of the confrontation though, deputies were unaware that the weapon was actually a pellet gun which closely resembled a 40-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Mr. Smith was killed and Deputy Arruda was apparently dodging the pellets when he stepped into the line of deputy firings, and was struck in the neck by a fellow deputy. A second deputy was wounded, but not seriously. Arruda succumbed to his injuries on June 15. Investigators had deduced that, based on Smith’s actions, he was bent on dying, and chose to have it done by law enforcement officers. Deputy Arruda is survived by his eleven-year-old son Michael, Jr. and his fiancé, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Lidia Silva, who is expecting their daughter, Savannah, in August.

Los Angeles County Fire Department
July 13, 2004

Captain Daniel Elkins was driving home at about 8:00 AM on July 13, after working an 18-hour shift fighting the Pine Fire, north of Santa Clarita California, when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel. His pickup truck, apparently drifted on to the dirt shoulder of 90th Street West near Avenue I in Lancaster, and flipped several times. Capt. Elkins was cut free by emergency crews that included his own Station 117, where he recently transferred. He was pronounced dead at Antelope Valley Hospital. Capt. Elkins was 47-years old, a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and was recently promoted to Captain after being stationed at the Urban Search and Rescue Team at Station 134 .He served as a fire weather specialist for the Department’s incident management team. He was an elder at Central Christian Church and worked with junior high and high school students in the youth ministry. He also led a young married couples group. Capt. Elkins lived in Quartz Hill and is survived by his wife Rene, and two adult children, Amanda, 20 and Jeremy, 23.

Oakland Police Department
July 22, 2004

On July 22, 2004, Officer Seuis, a Motor Officer, who had been with the Oakland Police Department, was enroute home from work. He was riding his department motorcycle Southbound on Interstate 238 when he was struck and run over by a big-rig. The driver of the big-rig did not stop at the scene of the accident. Carlos Mares, of Union City, the driver of the truck, was arrested by the Highway Patrol approximately 15 minutes after the accident. Officer Seuis is survived by his wife Michelle and their two daughters, Danielle (13) and Kristin (11).

Los Angeles County Police Department
August 10, 2004

On the early morning hours of August 10, a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Police Department, Captain Michael Sparkes, was riding his bicycle, off-duty, near his home in South Central Los Angeles. Captain Sparkes was confronted by two armed male subjects in an attempted robbery. Captain Sparkes and the assailants exchanged gun fire, one of the subjects was wounded and the get-away car was hit. He was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where he supervised a force of about 30 police officers and security guards for the last two-years. Sparkes died in surgery two and one-half hours after the attack. Captain Sparkes, who was 53 years old, was able to give investigators a description of the assailants. He is the first Los Angeles County Police Officer killed since 1994 and is survived by his wife, 7-year old son and a grown stepdaughter. The suspects have been taken into custody.

Los Angeles City Fire Department
August 14, 2004

On August 14, Firefighter Jamie L. Foster, became the first female firefighter in the City of Los Angeles to die in the line of duty. Foster was a member of the firefighting crew from Station 73 in Reseda. The crew was leaving the scene of a structure fire and according to reports, Firefighter Foster was riding on a running board at the back of the truck, when apparently she fell off and was pinned under the truck. Foster was transported to and pronounced dead at the hospital. A multi-agency investigation is now underway to determine the exact cause and circumstances surrounding the accident. This is the first line of duty deaths for the department since March 1998. Jamie Foster was 25 years-old and was just months out of the academy. She was a resident of Palmdale.