Officers Roy P. Blecher and William M. Freeman were partners, working out of the Woodland Area Office, when they were gunned down along Interstate 80 near the Yolo Causeway in West Sacramento. Investigators found signs of a struggle. Blecher was handcuffed and shot in the back of the head and Freeman had been overpowered, shot and killed. Their last radio contact was at 3:12 a.m. when they stopped a suspect for a routine traffic violation. The killer was captured, tried and convicted of the murders and is currently serving a life sentence. Officer Blecher, 50, was a 21-year CHP veteran and Officer Freeman, 32, was a 12-year Patrol veteran.

Officers Roy P. Blecher and William M. Freeman were partners, working out of the Woodland Area Office, when they were gunned down along Interstate 80 near the Yolo Causeway in West Sacramento. Investigators found signs of a struggle. Blecher was handcuffed and shot in the back of the head and Freeman had been overpowered, shot and killed. Their last radio contact was at 3:12 a.m. when they stopped a suspect for a routine traffic violation. The killer was captured, tried and convicted of the murders and is currently serving a life sentence. Officer Blecher, 50, was a 21-year CHP veteran and Officer Freeman, 32, was a 12-year Patrol veteran.

Richard T. Steed, a thirty-one year old San Clemente Police Department Officer was killed while responding to a medical aid call on November 29, 1978. He was shot by the person he had been led to believe needed medical assistance.

Patrolman Archie C. Buggs was shot and killed on Nov. 4, after he made a traffic stop on two gang members. A fellow officer located Buggs laying in the street with his ticket book nearby.

Two suspects were arrested and subsequently sentenced to life.

Buggs had been with the San Diego Police Department for four years.

His mother and siblings survived him.

Officers Gayle W. Wood and James F. McCabe were on air-traffic patrol, making their last run before quitting at dusk when their CHP helicopter crashed and burned near Castaic Lake on Interstate 5. The helicopter struck a power line support that apparently was not visible in the approaching darkness. Officer Wood, the 41-year-old pilot, was a 10-year veteran of the Patrol and had been a CHP pilot for five years. Officer McCabe, the 34-year-old observer, had been a member of the Patrol for seven years and a helicopter observer for six months.

Officers Gayle W. Wood and James F. McCabe were on air-traffic patrol, making their last run before quitting at dusk when their CHP helicopter crashed and burned near Castaic Lake on Interstate 5. The helicopter struck a power line support that apparently was not visible in the approaching darkness. Officer Wood, the 41-year-old pilot, was a 10-year veteran of the Patrol and had been a CHP pilot for five years. Officer McCabe, the 34-year-old observer, had been a member of the Patrol for seven years and a helicopter observer for six months.

On Monday, August 7, 1978, Sergeant Darlon “Dee” Dowell became the first Ventura police officer killed in the line of duty.

On August 6, four men tried to rob a businessman making a night deposit at the Bank of America on Victoria Avenue. The robbery was interrupted and the four suspects fled; two were apprehended immediately but Robert K. Lee, 22, and Keith Kuhne, 20, escaped.

The next day a team of seven Ventura police officers served arrest and search warrants on the two outstanding suspects. Sergeant Dowell, Detective Don Bales, Detective Carl Handy, and Officer Gary McCaskill approached the front door of the suspects’ house at 154 N. Olive while Sergeant Art “A. J.” Farrar, Detective John Leach, and Officer Don Arth set up a perimeter around the residence. Officers entered the home and were detaining Kuhne in the living room when Lee fired a shotgun from a darkened hallway, fatally wounding Sergeant Dowell. Lee then ran through the house, crashed through a rear window, and was shot and killed by pursuing officers.

At the time of his death, Sergeant Dowell, 32, was a nine-year veteran of the Ventura Police Department. We will remember him as a dedicated police officer, devoted husband, and loving father to his two young children.

The City of San Buenaventura named Dowell Drive, the location of police headquarters, in Dee’s honor in 1979.

Officer Nicholas Paul Cecchetti was killed with a single bullet to his side which penetrated his heart killing him almost immediately while serving a narcotics search warrant August 3, 1978. The murderer was arrested shortly thereafter and was charged with first-degree murder. A change of venue was granted and the trial was held in Fresno County where the murderer was convicted and sentenced to life without parole.

Officer Cecchetti left behind his wife Cathy, sons Nicholas Jr. and Brandon and also his brother Michael and sister Julianne along with his parents, Julio and Meredyth Cecchetti.

His funeral was held at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton and was attended by over 1,200 mourners, which included police officers from all across the nation and state.

Officer Checchetti was born and raised in Stockton. He graduated from Lincoln High School, San Joaquin Delta College and late California State University Sacramento with a degree in Public Administration.

The family feels a sense of peace knowing his name rests alongside other officers from California who had fallen since statehood was granted.