DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12
FEATURES 56 COVER STORY IACP OFFICER OF THE YEAR, OFFICER THADEU HOLLOWAY 68 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE DEPARTMENTS 6 PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS 8 EDITOR’S THOUGHTS 12 GUEST COMMENTARY - BILL KING 14 NEWS AROUND THE US 46 HEALTH & AWARENESS 52 COP CAR NEWS 84 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 86 REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES 92 WAR STORIES 98 AFTERMATH 102 OPEN ROAD 108 CLASSIFIEDS 110 HEALING OUR HEROES 112 DARYL’S DELIBERATIONS 114 LIGHT BULB AWARD 116 RUNNING 4 HEROES 118 BLUE MENTAL HEALTH WITH DR. TINA JAECKLE 120 OFF DUTY WITH RUSTY BARRON 124 ADS BACK IN THE DAY 124 PARTING SHOTS 130 BUYERS GUIDE 150 NOW HIRING - L.E.O. POSITIONS OPEN IN TEXAS 202 BACK PAGE
FEATURES
56 COVER STORY
IACP OFFICER OF THE YEAR,
OFFICER THADEU HOLLOWAY
68 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
DEPARTMENTS
6 PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS
8 EDITOR’S THOUGHTS
12 GUEST COMMENTARY - BILL KING
14 NEWS AROUND THE US
46 HEALTH & AWARENESS
52 COP CAR NEWS
84 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
86 REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES
92 WAR STORIES
98 AFTERMATH
102 OPEN ROAD
108 CLASSIFIEDS
110 HEALING OUR HEROES
112 DARYL’S DELIBERATIONS
114 LIGHT BULB AWARD
116 RUNNING 4 HEROES
118 BLUE MENTAL HEALTH WITH DR. TINA JAECKLE
120 OFF DUTY WITH RUSTY BARRON
124 ADS BACK IN THE DAY
124 PARTING SHOTS
130 BUYERS GUIDE
150 NOW HIRING - L.E.O. POSITIONS OPEN IN TEXAS
202 BACK PAGE
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AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />
LAS ANGELES, CA<br />
Driver who plowed his SUV into a group of LASD Recruits, was arrested<br />
and then released due to a lack of evidence, says he fell asleep.<br />
By Hunter Lee<br />
The Orange County Register<br />
LOS ANGELES, CA — A 22-yearold<br />
Diamond Bar driver was arrested<br />
on suspicion of attempted<br />
murder of one or more peace officers<br />
for plowing into 75 cadets<br />
out for a training run in South<br />
Whittier on Wednesday morning,<br />
and then released a day later<br />
when Sheriff Alex Villanueva<br />
stated they didn’t have enough<br />
evidence to charge him.<br />
The Sheriff’s Department said<br />
Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez was<br />
arrested by deputies just after<br />
3 p.m. the day of the collision<br />
and added in its Thursday statement<br />
that more charges could be<br />
added.<br />
Gutierrez, authorities had said,<br />
was behind the wheel of a SUV<br />
and on his way to work, suffering<br />
minor injuries in the crash.<br />
Then later on Thursday, citing<br />
the need for further investigation,<br />
authorities released Gutierrez<br />
from custody.<br />
“Due to the extreme complexity<br />
of the investigation, which<br />
includes ongoing interviews,<br />
video surveillance review, and<br />
additional evidence needed to be<br />
analyzed, homicide investigators<br />
have released Mr. Gutierrez from<br />
the Sheriff’s Department custody<br />
today at approximately 9:55 PM,”<br />
the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s<br />
Department said in a statement.<br />
Authorities identified Gutierrez<br />
as the driver of an SUV that<br />
veered onto the wrong side of<br />
the road early Wednesday in the<br />
suburban Whittier area, where<br />
a sheriff’s academy facility is<br />
located.<br />
Seventy-five recruits for the<br />
sheriff’s department and other<br />
law enforcement agencies were<br />
on a routine run in formation<br />
through the area. Five of the recruits<br />
were critically injured and<br />
two remained in critical condition<br />
Thursday afternoon, according<br />
to the department.<br />
Sheriff Alex Villanueva told<br />
NewsNation earlier Thursday that<br />
investigators believe the crash<br />
was a “deliberate act” and that<br />
there was probable cause to<br />
make the arrest.<br />
But he said Gutierrez was going<br />
to be “provisionally” released<br />
“until we can have the case iron<br />
clad, iron proof, and submitted<br />
to the DA for filing consideration.<br />
Right now, we want to tie up all<br />
the loose ends on the case and<br />
then present it to the DA.”<br />
It will be up to the county district<br />
attorney to decide whether<br />
Gutierrez will be charged and for<br />
what offense.<br />
“The Sheriff’s Department<br />
would like to thank the Los Angeles<br />
County Fire Department,<br />
the California Highway Patrol,<br />
the incredible medical staffs<br />
who are caring for our injured<br />
personnel, the other agencies<br />
that assisted in this investigation,<br />
and the outpouring of love and<br />
support we have experienced<br />
from the community.”<br />
The entire class of 75 cadets,<br />
mostly Sheriff’s Department<br />
recruits but some in line to get<br />
hired by other Southern California<br />
police agencies, were<br />
jogging in four columns on<br />
Telegraph Road, heading toward<br />
Mills Avenue, just before 6:25<br />
a.m.<br />
Two sheriff’s patrol cars were<br />
alongside to protect them from<br />
traffic as they ran in the street,<br />
the sheriff has said. The class<br />
went north on Mills, merging<br />
from four columns into two. The<br />
patrol cars let them pass and<br />
went to the rear.<br />
That’s when the SUV, going<br />
southbound on Mills at about 20<br />
to 30 miles per hour, suddenly<br />
veered into the opposite lane<br />
and collided with the cadets.<br />
Some recruits said that the driver<br />
continued accelerating before<br />
smashing into a light pole and<br />
coming to a halt, a sheriff’s captain<br />
has said.<br />
In an interview with the LA<br />
Times, Gutierrez’s attorney Alexandra<br />
Kazarian, said Gutierrez<br />
was traveling in a Honda CR-V<br />
on Wednesday morning to his<br />
job as an electrical engineer for<br />
a solar panel company. his attorney.<br />
Gutierrez, who wakes for<br />
work at 5 a.m., had been up late<br />
the night before, she said.<br />
“He’s a good kid that fell<br />
asleep on his way to work early<br />
in the morning,” Kazarian said.<br />
Gutierrez comes from a law<br />
enforcement family, Kazarian<br />
said. His father is a retired<br />
corrections officer, and he has<br />
uncles in the Los Angeles Police<br />
Department, the California<br />
Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s<br />
Department.<br />
“He harbors absolutely no<br />
animosity toward law enforcement,”<br />
Kazarian said. She added<br />
that reports that Gutierrez was a<br />
disgruntled academy recruit are<br />
“completely incorrect.” He “never<br />
had any association with being a<br />
recruit,” she said.<br />
24 The BLUES The BLUES 25