Golden Badge of Courage Award
Investigator Rick Espinoza
Riverside County Sheriff’s Department
On August 29, 2008, Investigator Espinoza was working patrol in a marked Sheriff's patrol unit. Espinoza was working an overtime saturation detail, (County Special enforcement Program) in the unincorporated area of Desert Hot Springs. The purpose of this detail is to contact and identify gang members for the injunction that is in progress and also to arrest any criminal offenders.
Espinoza was patrolling in the area of Browns Town in Desert Hot Springs. This area was given this nickname due to the huge influx of Brown's Town gang members. Espinoza came upon a subject who was riding a BMX style bicycle and the subject fled from him. This was determined by the fact that a bicycle was left lying on its side about five feet from the patrol unit. Under the bicycle was a single shoe that was left behind, indicating that the shoe fell off as he tried to run. It appears that Investigator Espinoza gave chase and at some point got shot in the face by the suspect. Investigator Espinoza put out a call for
help indicating he'd been shot in the face. Responding officers, Investigator Eller and Mott, found Investigator Espinoza severely injured and immediately transported him to the nearest trauma center, Desert Regional Hospital. Sgt. Oliver and Investigator Diaz arrived at the shooting scene shortly thereafter and secured the scene until Forensic Technicians could process it.
Initially several officers from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and adjoining agencies set up a perimeter around the area where the shooting took place. This was done for the purpose of containing the suspect to a specific area, so as to facilitate the eventual search for the suspect. In. the meantime several cells of officers were checking areas within the perimeter for the suspect. Sgt. Webb arrived at the location with her bloodhound and proceeded to track the suspect's scent. Sgt. Webb's bloodhound initially tracked the suspect to an area near the shooting scene but lost the scent soon after.
Investigator Tesinsky, CHU Investigator Masson, and Forensic Technicians responded to the shooting scene to relieve Sgt. Oliver. Investigator Tesinsky and Masson began to direct Forensic Technicians and processed the crime scene.
A three-man team consisting of Deputies Fredericks, Decker, and Santos knocked on the front door at 15340 Avenida Ramada. There was no answer on the door so deputy Santos knocked on an adjacent garage door. As Deputy Santos Knocked on the door it flew open. Due to a degree of exigency and the safety of the home's occupants, Deputy Santos illuminated the garage with his flashlight and noticed a white sock from a subject hiding underneath a billiards table. Deputy Santos gave the subject commands to come out from underneath the billiards table. Deputy Santos said the subject initially started to come out but then proceeded to go back underneath the billiards table. Deputy Santos said he then used his department issued Tazer to subdue the subject and place him in handcuffs. When Deputy Santos was pulling the subject out from beneath the billiards table he noticed a black revolver in the area where the suspect was lying. The suspect began to struggle with officers and was placed back onto the ground. The suspect was pulled out of the garage area to make certain that he could not get to the firearm. Deputy Santos also indicated that the subject that he had detained matched the description of the suspect involved in the shooting of Investigator Rick Espinoza.
Investigator's Northrup and Alfaro transported the subject to the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station where he was interviewed. During the interview he made several admissions regarding the shooting incident. He told investigators that he was the person riding the bicycle when Investigator Espinoza attempted to contact him just prior to the shooting. He then said that he dropped his bicycle and ran from Espinoza because he is a convicted felon and had a weapon in his possession. He then indicated hearing several gunshots but indicates he couldn't remember much about the shooting.
Investigator Martinez wrote a search warrant for the residence located on Avenida Ramada, where the subject was found hiding. The search warrant was executed at the residence and a revolver was in fact located under the billiards table where the subject was hiding.
On September 2, 2008, Investigators Northrup and Martinez re-interviewed the subject to clarify some points in the investigation. At that time, the subject told about how the entire incident took place including the fact that he shot Investigator Rick Espinoza. The details he gave matched up to what Investigator Espinoza had described. The subject also agreed to take us to the crime scene and walk us through the events as they unfolded, to include where he discarded the weapon he used to shoot investigator Espinoza - a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun. A search for the weapon where the subject said he had discarded it but we could not find it turned up negative, but the location where the subject indicated he discarded the firearm was close to the roadway edge where somebody walking by could have seen it and picked it up.
Golden Badge of Courage Award
Corporal Mathew Sorenson
Santa Ana Police Department
On June 19, 2008 at approximately 1630 hours, 30 Santa Ana Police Officers assigned to the SWAT Team were participating in a training exercise at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. During this training exercise members of the SWAT Team were rotating through the ballistic live fire training facility armed with their duty issued AR-15, .223 rifles. As several of his teammates were participating in the live fire exercise, Sorenson and several other teammates were waiting for their opportunity to cycle through the live five training facility on bleachers designated as a safety area.
As Sorenson was speaking with several teammates, he was struck by a .223 projectile fired by one of the SWAT Officers participating in the live fire training exercise. It was later discovered that one of the rounds fired inside the facility struck the outer ballistic wall from inside the building. Upon close examination it was determined the integrity of the wall failed.
Sorenson was struck on the left cheek approximately 5 millimeters below his eye. The bullet entered his skull and shattered his left orbital socket. The bullet continued through his skull shattering both orbital sockets narrowly missing his sinus cavity. The bullet finally lodged itself in his right cheek. What can only be described as a miracle and by the grace of God, the bullet did not enter the brain cavity or cause damage to his eyes. As Sorensen went to the ground, Swat Officer Mike Gonzalez who was also in the immediate area ran to his side and began to assess Sorenson's injuries. Swat Officer Chuck Flynn who had just pulled away from the training facility overheard other members yelling for paramedics. Flynn immediately returned to the live fire facility and observed Gonzalez rendering first aid to Sorenson. Both Gonzalez and Flynn who have extensive military training and combat experience swung into action assessing Sorenson's injuries. After identifying the one bullet wound, they observed that Sorenson was bleeding from the facial wound and from his mouth. Both veterans armed with their trauma kits,
inserted a nasal tube to establish an airway to keep Sorenson from choking on his own blood. Gonzalez and Flynn provided critical care attempting to control the bleeding and ensuring that Sorenson did not go into shock. Both continued their critical care until paramedics arrived and accompanied Officer Sorenson to the hospital.
After arriving at the hospital Sorenson immediately underwent extensive surgery to repair the damage to his orbital sockets. The damage caused by the bullet required surgeons to reconstruct the orbital sockets with titanium mesh. After his release from the hospital Sorenson spent the next several months recovering and undergoing several other surgeries.
Officer Sorenson is an example to us all. He displayed the will to survive as he fought to overcome this traumatic experience. Where some might consider hanging up the gloves, Sorenson was only out of work for a short period of time before he returned to full duty and back to the "Strike Force", Santa Ana PD's full time SWAT Team. Six months later, Sorenson participated in the Department's Corporal promotional process and as a result was promoted to Corporal. Sorenson returned to Patrol to assume his supervisory position.
