In the Line of Duty

Inspector Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident while returning to Elsinore, California, from San Diego, California, for a temporary duty assignment. He was riding a government motorcycle which had taken to San Diego to get repaired. He struck the rear of a stalled vehicle which was parked in a travel lane and had no lights on.

During the evening of March 23, 1930, Senior Patrol Inspector James E. Renshaw and Patrol Inspector Harry E. Vincent were inspecting northbound traffic about one mile north of Oceanside, California. The traffic check operation was being conducted on a temporary roadway where new construction was underway. At 10:00 p.m., an automobile traveling in a southerly direction missed the detour and struck down Officers Renshaw and Vincent. Both officers were knocked unconscious. A bystander, Mr. William Trotter, took charge of the situation. Mr Trotter had the officers transported to a clinic in Oceanside.

Inspector Strobridge succumbed to injuries received five days earlier in an automobile accident while returning from a court date in Los Angeles, California. He and three other inspectors were riding together in a government vehicle when the accident occurred.

Agent Rector was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow agent who was discussing gun limitations with a third agent at the Chula Vista Sector Headquarters in California. The two agents had unloaded the .357 caliber handgun while examining it, reloaded it, and placed it in a drawer as they began to discuss a different weapon. The discussion returned to the .357 and one of the agents removed it from the drawer, not realizing it had been reloaded. When he pulled the trigger the gun discharged and round passed through the wall and struck Agent Rector in the head as he sat at his desk. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to the wound several hours later.

Inspector Jennings was struck and killed by an automobile while conducting a traffic checkpoint near Oceanside, California. A vehicle which had stopped at a stop sign was rear-ended by another speeding vehicle. The stopped vehicle was then catupulted into Inspector Jennings, causing fatal injuries

Inspector Newton and Inspector George Azrak were shot and killed after being abducted from a traffic checkpoint on Highway 19 near Oak Grove, California. The ensuing investigation determined that the two had stopped a vehicle with over 800 pounds of marijuana. While searching the vehicle they were overpowered and taken to a remote cabin in a deserted mountainous area. The two had been handcuffed together and were shot and killed as they lay on the ground.

Inspector Newton and Inspector George Azrak were shot and killed after being abducted from a traffic checkpoint on Highway 19 near Oak Grove, California. The ensuing investigation determined that the two had stopped a vehicle with over 800 pounds of marijuana. While searching the vehicle they were overpowered and taken to a remote cabin in a deserted mountainous area. The two had been handcuffed together and were shot and killed as they lay on the ground.

Inspector Burns suffered a fatal heart attack following a search in a Calexico, California, river bottom.

Inspector Anderson was accidentally shot and killed when his rifle discharged while on patrol near San Ysidro, California.

Border Patrol Agent Glenn A. Phillips of the Chula Vista Station, Chula Vista Sector, was killed at 9:40 p.m. on July 8, 1974, in a jeep accident. He was traveling alone on the Tijuana Street Extension, a dirt road located near the international boundary approximately one mile west of the Port of Entry at San Ysidro. Agent Phillips was responding to a call for assistance from Patrol Agent Petraglia who had spotted a group of aliens entering the United States illegally.  The San Diego Police Department’s report indicates that Agent Phillips was traveling at approximately 20 miles per hour, probably without lights, when his jeep crashed into the front end of a parked flatbed trailer. The jeep was badly damaged and the front of the trailer extended well into the interior and to the rear of the jeep. The bed of the trailer struck the right side of Agent Phillips’ face, apparently killing him instantly.

Pilot Haynie was killed in an airplane accident near Yuma, Arizona, while on duty.

Agent McCravey succumbed to injuries sustained in an automobile accident three days earlier while chasing a suspected of transporting smuggled aliens. The vehicle he was chasing caused dust to be kicked up, possibly blocking Agent McCravey’s visibility. His patrol car overturned and became submerged in the All American Canal near Calexico, California.

At approximately 11:45 p.m., Agent Santiago was working in a canyon near Lower Otay Reservoir when he and other agents saw a group of about 20 illegal aliens. The agents identified themselves as Border Patrol and ordered the aliens to stop. The group scattered and the agents followed. Agent Santiago gave chase along the rim of the canyon, taking a narrow trail that leads to the edge of a cliff. He lost his footing on loose rock and slippery grass and fell approximately 120 feet to his death.  Agent Santiago was one week short of taking his ten month examination.

Agent Starch was killed after he fell into a ravine while tracking suspected illegal aliens.

Agent de la Ossa and Agent Thomas J. Williams were killed when their vehicle was involved in a head on collision on a rain slicked road. The two agents were returning to San Diego, where they were stationed, from a federal training center in Artesia, New Mexico, when the accident occurred. The accident took place on Highway 82 in New Mexico. The driver of the other vehicle was also killed.