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History
Of The Association
Willie
Sanchez was shot to death in a gun battle while performing his duty as
an El Paso Police Officer. His widow was pregnant, there was no insurance.
Willie Sanchez was not the first El Paso Policeman to die in the line
of duty, nor was he to be the last.
The
circumstances surrounding his death led five fellow officers to take action
that has provided a better life for many El Pasoans, Police Officers and
civilians alike. The five officers began by passing the hat among the
less than 200 members of the 1957 El Paso Police Department to raise funds
for Sanchez's widow. The end result of their efforts was the creation
of what is now the El Paso Municipal Police Officers' Association. The
E.P.M.P.O.A. has continued its priority of working for the El Paso Police
Officer, their families and the citizens of El Paso ever since.
Over 1115 strong, the Association now provides insurance, collective bargaining
representation and a variety of benefits for El Paso Police Officers.
Through it's membership dues and charitable events the Association provides
regular charitable support for many El Paso citizens and organizations.
The Association's Board of Directors responds to the scenes and hospitals
when El Paso Police Officers are injured in the line of duty to assist
not only the officers involved but also the families of those officers.
During the tragic times when an officer has been slain in the line of
duty the Association works to protect those family members left behind
by providing legal, moral and financial assistance. The Association is
the exclusive bargaining agent for all El Paso Police Officers below the
rank of Chief of Police.
Since
El Paso's police officers are in daily contact with the people of the
community and have an insight into their needs, scores of individuals
have benefited from donations raised through fund developing projects.
The El Paso Municipal Police Officers' Association gives added meaning
to the sacrifice made by Willie Sanchez.
  El Paso Police Officers' Memorial Page
EPPD OFFICERS KILLED IN
THE LINE OF DUTY
From the El Paso Times newspaper archives.
Thomas Mode
Assistant City Marshal Thomas Mode was killed July 11, 1883, when he
was answering a report of drunk cowboys disturbing at the Mansion House, a
local brothel. Mode's killer, 25-year-old Howard H. Doughty, escaped
to Mexico and was never captured. Doughty and a friend had arrived
from Chihuahua and joined several others in "an uproarious
debauch." Drunkenness, lust, profanity and violence led to the murder
of Officer Mode, according to reports at the time. A reward for
Doughty's capture was printed in the El Paso Herald and stated that
Doughty "was seen in Paso del Norte, Mexico, with his mustachios
shaved off, his hair clipped closely, dressed in a pair of light jeans
pants, with a buckskin jacket, cut after Mexican fashion."
Newton Stewart
Officer Newton Stewart died February 17, 1900, during a jailbreak
attempt that was connected to racial tensions of the time. Two black
soldiers from Fort Bliss had been arrested on drunk-and-disorderly charges
and a squad of their fellow black soldiers from the segregated Army
attempted to free them. Stewart, the only police officer on duty at
the police station on Overland Street that night, was shot by the
soldiers. A jailer who was on duty shot and killed one of the
soldiers. Three soldiers were later arrested and court-martialed.
William Paschall
Two men suspected of committing robberies on West Main Street across
from the Chamber of Commerce killed Officer William Paschall on the night
of Dec. 4, 1914. Officer Paschall was detailed to investigate the
robberies of a man and a woman. Witnesses heard a gunshot and saw two men
running toward the railroad yard. A passerby then
"stumbled" onto the body of Paschall, who lay dead with a
gunshot wound to the head. The killers were never caught, but a
suspect in the shooting was killed two months later after the shooting
death of Officer Gus Chitwood, when the man tried to take an officer's
gun.
Gus Chitwood
Officer Gus Chitwood was sent on Feb. 13, 1915 with other officers to
the alley west of Florence Street, between 3rd and 4th streets, regarding
a subject firing a gun. While Chitwood was searching the alley, the
suspect emerged from a doorway and shot the officer in the chest. He died
a few minutes later after being fired upon by other officers, the suspect
escaped, but was captured within an hour. The El Paso Times reported
the suspect confessed to the crime during the interrogation. While
in custody, the suspect attempted to grab another officer's gun. The
suspect was shot to death in the office of the chief of detectives.
Sydney J. Benson
At 5:30 a.m. on June 28, 1917, Officer Sidney J. Benson was shot and
killed by a man he had arrested in the railway yards. Benson
was driving the man to the city jail and was passing the 900 block of
Texas Street when the man, who was not handcuffed, reached over and
grabbed Benson's gun. The unidentified suspect then shot Benson four
times, striking him twice in the head and twice in the torso. The patrol
car Benson was driving crashed and the suspect escaped, never to be
captured. Benson died instantly from the two shots to the head. He
was a seven-year veteran of the El Paso Police Department and was the
second-most-senior person on the force at the time of his death.
He was survived by a wife and a 1-year-old child.
Octaviano Perea
Officer Octaviano Perea was shot and instantly killed Feb. 2, 1918, in
a gunbattle with Felipe Alvarez. Alvarez shot and wounded a woman
and killed her two infant children, then sought refuge at his home on ABC
Alley. Shortly after arriving at his home, police entered the
courtyard and a shootout began. Perea was shot and killed instantly
when he used a spotlight to search for Alvarez, who fired at the spotlight
and struck Perea in the head. Alvarez tried to hide in an outhouse
but was shot more than 80 times as he hid. Police also used dynamite to
remove him from the building. Alvarez died from numerous gunshot
wounds. According to Capt. Harry Phoenix, Alvarez was intoxicated on
marijuana at the time. Phoenix was assured Alvarez was not intoxicated
with liquor, "as his actions were more like those of a man full of
drug." Also killed in the gunbattle was City Deputy Tax
Collector Juan Garcia.
Officer Perea was 49 at the time of his death and was
survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons.
George F. Drake
Officer George F. Drake was killed while responding to a lovers'
quarrel that resulted in the shooting of a police detective. Thomas
Davis, a service car stand manager, shot and wounded police
Detective George E. Minturn during a quarrel over a woman. After the
shooting, Davis fled the scene in his car. Drake responded to the
disturbance call on his police motorcycle and saw Davis speeding away.
Drake pursued the fleeing vehicle but was struck by the car. Drake and his
motorcycle were trapped under the car and dragged, killing Drake.
Drake was survived by his wife and his 5- and 9-year-old sons.
Harry Phoenix
Capt. Harry Phoenix, Sgt. Schuyler C. Houston and Patrolman J.F.
Keevil had just finished an evening meal at 11:20 p.m. on June 14, 1921,
at Sam's Place, 2901 Piedras, when they spotted two suspicious men on
Alameda. When Houston told one of the men he was facing arrest, the
man pulled out a gun and shot Houston twice. The other suspect also pulled
out a gun and shot Phoenix once in the head, killing him instantly.
Keevil took cover and returned fire, but the two suspects escaped into Juárez
and were never captured. Although critically wounded, Houston
survived the attack.
Phoenix was an El Paso policeman for 10 years and was 37 years old when he
died. He was survived by his wife and his 12-year-old daughter.
Frank Burns
Detective Frank Burns, 28, was shot and killed April 12, 1923, when he
went to 1006 S. El Paso to look for two men involved in narcotics
peddling. As he passed through the front door, two men opened fire and hit
him twice. Burns ran outside and fell on the sidewalk. As his
assailants ran from the building, they shot him while he lay on the
ground. After being shot again, Detective Burns fired back and wounded one
of his assailants. While on the operating table at Hotel Dieu
Hospital, Burns told an El Paso Herald reporter, "I guess they got
me. Please send for my wife." While at his side, Mrs.
Burns said, "Oh Frank, why did you let them do it? I warned you
all along." The shooters escaped to Mexico and were never
caught.
John J. Coleman
Detective John J. Coleman was killed July 14, 1924, in an attack that
remains a mystery. According to the lone witness to Coleman's death, a
Ford turned onto Copia Street from Tularosa Street and then stopped at
Grama Street. The witness, who was mowing his lawn at the time, saw the
car stop and heard the engine stop. The witness then heard several
shots fired and a man scream. The witness did not see who fired the shots,
but when he went over to the car, he saw Coleman, lying dead inside the
car. No suspects were ever found, and the case went unsolved.
Coleman was survived by his wife and at least one son,
Jack.
The mayor of El Paso at the time offered a job on the Police Department to
Coleman's 23-year-old son, and Coleman's widow was the first to receive a
benefit from a new city life insurance policy. She got $2,000.
Lynn McClintock
Officer Lynn McClintock was critically injured at 9 p.m. Oct. 1, 1926,
and died 16 hours later at Hotel Dieu Hospital after alcohol smugglers
sideswiped his police motorcycle. After receiving word from U.S.
Customs Service officers of a bridge runner and possible alcohol runner,
Officer H.S. Bernhardt spotted the suspected car and started to chase it.
Officer McClintock jumped on the back of Bernhardt's motorcycle to assist
him. As they approached Santa Fe and San Antonio streets, the car
veered over and struck the motorcycle. Officer Bernhardt was able to jump
onto the moving car but Officer McClintock fell with the motorcycle and
struck another car. He suffered critical head and internal injuries
that caused his death. According to Bernhardt, he pulled up to the
side of the car and ordered the driver to stop. "The driver leaned
out and cursed me, swerving the car toward the motorcycle, which turned
over," Bernhardt said. The driver and two passengers were
arrested.
McClintock was the brother of County Judge E.B. McClintock. He was
survived by his wife and three daughters.
Ralph Marmolejo
Detective Ralph Marmolejo and his partner, Frank Goreman, spotted two
suspicious men walking into the railroad track area behind 1830 Bassett
Avenue on March 17, 1951. Goreman and Marmolejo split up to better
search the tracks for the men, later identified as Oscar Pichardo and
Alberto Salas. Pichardo, who was armed with a handgun, later said he
only wanted to scare the detective so he could escape. Instead, Pichardo
shot Marmolejo in the abdomen. Marmolejo returned fire and shot
Pichardo twice, seriously wounding him. Marmolejo died shortly after
arriving at Southwestern Memorial Hospital.
Marmolejo was survived by his wife, a 3-month-old daughter and a
21-month-old daughter.
Warren Mitchell
On May 16, 1953, 29-year-old Henry Early Friar, a Texas Western
College philosophy student, fired a rifle shot into a Dairy Queen at 3530
Dyer because he was angry for being refused a job. He fled to his home at
9000 Newman. Officer Warren Mitchell, his partner M.M. Cicchetti and
motorcycle officer William P. Kearby responded to the call from the Dairy
Queen. When the officers arrived, a witness told them he knew the man and
directed the officers to Friar's house. When the officers arrived at
the house, Friar came out the front door and started shooting at the
officers. Mitchell went to the patrol car to radio for help but was
shot in the head. He died instantly. Kearby was able to call
for help and scores of police, sheriff's and state highway officers
responded. Friar was arrested after a gunbattle of about one hour.
Mitchell, a two-year veteran of the Police Department and World War II
veteran, was survived by his wife.
Guillermo Sanchez
Detective Guillermo Sanchez, a two-year veteran of the Police
Department, and his partner located two men who had just robbed the
Furr's Grocery Store at 3028 Pershing on Dec. 14, 1957. The two men,
James Floyd Wooten Jr. of San Antonio and James Marvin Fisher of Austin,
were hiding out at the crowded El Paso Drive-In Theater on Chelsea Drive.
After calling for reinforcements, the detectives arrested the two and
handcuffed them together. After being placed into a patrol car, the two
attempted to escape and took a gun from a detective. They shot
Sanchez and Detective A.F. "Gus" Moran, who had responded to
back up Sanchez and his partner. Sanchez died almost instantly from
a gunshot wound to the head. Moran survived 3 gunshot wounds to the body.
Wooten and Fisher were killed by other officers who returned fire.
Detective Sanchez was survived by his wife, who was
expecting their first child.
Arthur Lavender
Officer Arthur Lavender had just finished his tour of duty at 11 p.m.
Dec. 16, 1966, and was driving his motorcycle home. He was driving
east in the center lane of Magoffin, a one-way street, when a car driven
by Barney Bickley of Anthony, N.M., made a sudden left-hand turn for Brown
Street from the far right lane. Bickley turned directly into
the path of Lavender's motorcycle. Lavender suffered massive head injuries
and died shortly after his arrival at Southwestern General Hospital.
Roger Hamilton
Officer Roger Hamilton was killed June 21, 1970, while directing
traffic at an accident on Interstate 10 near the Humble exit.
Hamilton was struck by a car driven by 27-year-old Victor Valverde, police
said. Witnesses said Valverde was driving on I-10 at a high rate of
speed, approaching the accident where Hamilton was directing traffic. The
car never slowed down and struck Hamilton, throwing him 169 feet and
killing him instantly, reports said. Hamilton was a graduate of Bel
Air High School and was attending the University of Texas at El Paso.
He was survived by his wife, his parents and his
grandmother.
Guy Myers Jr.
Officer Guy Myers Jr. was responding to a traffic accident on July 24,
1970, when his motorcycle was struck by a car driven by Fern Schmitz of
Arcadia, Calif. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Thomason Hospital.
According to witnesses, Myers was driving his police motorcycle -- with
the lights and siren on -- north on Yarbrough when Schmitz's car pulled in
front of the motorcycle after stopping at a stop sign. The motorcycle
collided with the car and was thrown 54 feet. Myers was found near
the motorcycle.
Myers, a Bel Air High School graduate and University of
Texas at El Paso student, was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
David Bannister
Officer David Bannister, 27, died June 3, 1974, when his patrol car
flipped during a high-speed chase. At 11:30 a.m., Bannister tried to
pull over a 15-year-old for a traffic violation. The 15-year-old did not
stop, and a chase began. The chase approached the 8100 block of
Viscount, where another police unit tried to stop the fleeing juvenile.
The juvenile slammed on his brakes and Bannister, who was directly behind
the juvenile's car, was forced to veer to the left to keep from colliding
with it. His patrol car struck the median and flipped on its side.
The car continued an additional 120 feet until it struck a rock wall
planter and flipped. Bannister was thrown from the patrol car and
was crushed underneath it. He died a few hours after arriving at
Providence Memorial Hospital. The juvenile was arrested but was
released to his father. It was later learned that the 15-year-old had
taken his father's car without permission.
Bannister was survived by his wife and daughter.
Wayne Carreon
Officer Wayne Carreon was killed while directing traffic at a June 27,
1980, accident on westbound Interstate 10 near the Cotton Street exit.
He was struck by a dump truck driven by Hector Magana, 21. The dump truck
continued and struck another car, then stopped after colliding with a
patrol car. Carreon was rushed to Hotel Dieu hospital with head
injuries, and later died.
Carreon was survived by his wife. His brother, Luis, also is an El Paso
police officer.
Charles Heinrich
On March 3, 1983, Detective Charles Heinrich and Officer Jesse Eckard
were driving on Dyer Street when they saw Edsel Willis, whom Eckard had
arrested once before on a weapons charge.
The officers stopped to talk with Willis but as the officers exited the
car, Willis walked away. As the two officers started to walk after Willis,
he pulled out a .22-caliber handgun from under his coat, turned and fired
at the officers. One bullet struck Heinrich in the head. Eckard
fired one shot and hit Willis in a leg. Heinrich was rushed to the
hospital where he arrived in a coma. Heinrich remained in a coma for more
than two years until he died on Aug. 29, 1985. Willis, who had a
history of mental illness, was charged with attempting to kill the two
officers and was sentenced to life in prison. Just before the
shooting, Heinrich had been named the El Paso Municipal Police Officer
Association's Detective of the Year because of the number of burglaries he
solved.
He was survived by his wife and son. The Northeast park that is the site
of the annual Police Memorial Service bears his name.
Norman Montion
Detective Norman Montion was killed in an Oct. 17, 1989, shooting
spree and gunfight that left four people dead, including his assailant.
Montion was on duty and on his lunch break at his business called Police
Officer Promotions when a former business partner, Richard Stratton,
arrived armed with a handgun. He walked up to Montion, who was at
his desk, and began shooting, striking Montion three times. Sergio
Muñoz, an employee of the business, jumped Stratton and took him to the
floor. During the struggle, Stratton shot and killed Muñoz.
Although mortally wounded, Montion drew his service weapon and returned
fire after Stratton had shot Muñoz. Stratton died instantly.
Montion was taken to Thomason Hospital, where he died an hour and a half
later. Detectives investigating the case later found Stratton's wife
dead in their home, apparently the first victim to die in Stratton's
shooting spree.
Detective Montion was a 17-year veteran of the department and was survived
by his wife, a son and two daughters.
Ernesto Serna
On Nov. 12, 1991, Officer Ernesto Serna from the Central Substation
was killed while working off-duty security at the Wal-Mart Store at 1100
N. Yarbrough. Serna saw Jessie Romero take a coat from a rack and
walk out of the store without paying for it. He followed the shoplifter
out of the store and stopped him in the parking lot. When Serna
confronted Romero, the suspect took out a handgun from under his coat and
fired at Serna, striking him once in the face. The wounded officer
returned fire and shot Romero three times, killing him. Serna was
rushed to Thomason Hospital, where he died shortly after 9 p.m.
Serna had just returned from Saudi Arabia, where he served as a reservist
in the Persian Gulf war.
His oldest son, Eloy, joined the El Paso Police Department and continues
the family tradition in law enforcement.
Angel Andrew Barcena
Officer Angel Andrew Barcena, an El Paso police officer who had been on the job less than a month,
was
shot and killed early Saturday (09/25/2004) while responding to a family fight
call on the West Side. Officer Barcena, 38, a newlywed who graduated from the academy
on August 26th, died
at Beaumont Army Medical Center after being shot at 12:46 a.m. at a home
of Theodore Michael Berry. Police arrested Berry, (age 42) and
charged him with Capital Murder. Berry allegedly fired two shots, hitting Barcena once in the back of
the upper left leg near the buttocks as the officer exited the garage,
police said. The shot severed an artery, causing the young officer to
collapse as he reached the end of the driveway.
Barcena and Officer Daniel Delgado, his field training officer, were
responding to a 911 call from a woman about an intoxicated man trying to
break into the house. Police said the woman was Berry's wife.
Barcena was a graduate of the first peace officer academy that trained
both police and sheriff's recruits. Berry was subsequently convicted of
Capital Murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
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