Donald J. Sowma, Sr., a forty-four year old Cypress Police Department Sergeant was murdered on November 19, 1976. Sgt. Sowma, along with other officers, had responded to a silent burglar alarm. He was shot while searching the premises. The suspect was later apprehended.

Sgt. Sowma was born April 14, 1932 in New York. He was survived by his wife, Colleen Ann Sheldon and four children, Michael Robert, Donald Jack Jr., Donna Marie and James Patrick. They were age 20 years to 13 years of age at the time of his death.

Sowma graduated from Orange Coast Police Academy in 1964 and joined the Cypress Police Department. Sowma promoted to detective in 1967 at the top of the eligibility list, and in 1968 he was promoted to Sergeant.

In 1970 Sgt. Sowma was named as the Officer of the year by the Cypress Police Department. Selected by all of the officers as “The most outstanding man in their numbers” a tribute of their respect for Don’s abilities and his dedication to saving lives.

Promoted to Lieutenant in 1972 and to Instate Commander in 1975; however, Sowma voluntarily requested to return to the field in the rank of Sergeant so he could be in the field with his men. He wanted to be with them rather than assigned to the station.

Sadly in November 1976 Sgt. Sowma’s live was cut short when he was killed in the line of duty in Cypress, California after serving the community as a police officer for 12 years.

Sgt. Sowma’s death was the first killing of an Orange County Policeman since 1972 and was the first Cypress Policeman killed in the line of duty since the department was formed 17 years before.

Down the street from the Cypress Police Department homes were being built at the time of his death and one of the Streets there was named in his honor, Sowma Way.

The following letter and poem was written for Sgt. Sowma by Brad Gates, Sheriff – Coroner, at the time of his death.

“Dear Editor

It is with deep sorrow that we have once again experienced the death of one of our fellow peace officers Sergeant Donald J. Sowma of the Cypress Policy Department was shot while searching the premisis of a business extablishment for a burglar the early morning hours of November 19, 1976.”

We authored the following poem in the hope that Donald Sowma’s death is not quickly erased from our memory:

We are proud of you, Donald
Proud of all you did
You made your city and profession better
with law and order, too.

You never counted the hours
a job takes to be done
You’d work throughout a long, dark night
–thru dawn or setting sun.

In times like these when standards
sometimes seem to go awary,
We know that your strong principles
always keep our banner high.

Superbly trained and experienced,
alert to take a call
When crises came which needed your skill
you were ready, standing tall.

You, Orange County can feel blessed
by kindly, smiling faced
In that they gave us a person and a lawman
In the likes of Donald Sowma.

Hasta Luego, Compadre…

Sincerely,

Brad Gates
Sheriff – Coroner”

After completing his assignment for the evening at the Sheriff’s Medical Detention Facility, Deputy Stewart Baird, 44, proceeded to the place of business where his wife was working to assist her with closing the business.

As they worked, a man entered the business armed with a sawed off rifle. At gunpoint, he ordered the cash register emptied. The suspect demanded Baird and other patrons remain seated with their heads down.

Deputy Baird confronted the suspect as he attempted to leave the business. During a physical altercation that followed, Deputy Baird drew his service weapon and fired two shots as the robber accosted him. One of the bullets hit the suspect but it failed to stop his attack on Baird. The suspect viciously hit Deputy Baird in the head causing him to fall and strike his head again. Deputy Baird died within minutes.

The suspect fled the business and collapsed outside on the sidewalk and died of his wounds. The suspect was identified as a parolee with a long and violent criminal history including a previous arrest for murder.

Deputy Stewart Baird was awarded the Medal of Valor, posthumously, for bravery above and beyond the call of duty.

Deputy Baird is buried at Mount Vernon Memorial Park on Greenback Lane.

Officer Jeffrey B. Lindenberg was killed on Friday, June 11, 1976, in a helicopter crash. He was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Air Support Division.

Officer Gary L. Hughes and his partner Officer Lancer R. Thelen stopped and arrested a suspected drunk driver along Interstate 80 in Vallejo. Hughes was sitting in the rear of the patrol car with the suspect when a pick-up truck camper plowed into the patrol car pinning Hughes against the front seat and causing massive head injuries. The 38-year-old Patrol officer died enroute to the hospital and the prisoner received minor injuries. Thelen was near the front of the patrol car with a tow truck operator completing paperwork for impounding the suspect’s vehicle when they were struck by the patrol car as it was rammed by the truck camper. Thelen suffered a severe leg injury and the tow truck operator had a compound leg fracture. The driver of the truck camper was taken into custody on charges of felony drunk driving and manslaughter. Hughes was an 11-year veteran of the Patrol.

CA Parks and Recreation Service Ranger Patricia Scully, 25, was killed by a drunk driver on May 6, 1976. She became the second woman law enforcement officer to be killed in CA (Madera County). Deputy Lucille Helm was the first in 1959.

Ranger Scully was on patrol at San Mateo Coast State Beaches, Half Moon Bay, at 4:20 p.m. on Thurs., May 6, when a drunk driver struck her vehicle head-on. Her northbound pickup truck was “knocked over an embankment on the Coast Highway” just north of LaHonda Road by a southbound car which “crossed onto the wrong side of the highway.” The driver, Manuel Santos Fernandez, Jr., 19, of Redwood City was driving at a “high rate of speed” before he “went out of control,” cross the median, “skidded 119 feet, flipped over and slammed into” Scully’s pickup.

The first marks made on Ranger Scully’s vehicle by the other vehicle were 30-36 inches above the ground indicating that Fernandez’ vehicle was “airborne” when it “literally went through the cab of Ranger Scully’s truck.”

One witness to the accident was Park Ranger William Walling who was in another vehicle 20 yards in front of Scully. Walling saw Fernandez’ vehicle cross the median just ahead of him (narrowly missing him) at approximately 65 mph. The vehicle then went onto the shoulder before careening back into the Walling/Scully lane. The vehicle then “flipped over” and went airborne as it struck Scully’s vehicle, “knocking it off the highway and down an embankment.”

Ranger Walling was the first person to reach Scully’s vehicle and, with the help of firemen from the CA Division of Forestry station at Pescadora, carried the mortally wounded Scully “back up the hill.” Ranger Scully was rushed to San Mateo County’s Chop Community Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. The cause of death was later determined to be from a skull fracture and multiple injuries.

Fernandez, the driver of the car that struck Scully, and his two Redwood City passengers, both 18, were all taken to Sequoia Hospital where Fernandez was released after treatment. His passengers were admitted and reported to be in “stable” condition.

Fernandez declined to discuss the fatal crash when asked to submit to questioning. He was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter. A trial was held in Redwood City where Fernandez’ defense attorney claimed that the Corvair was “defective” and thus that the auto he was driving, not his client, was responsible for the accident. The defense brought in the CHP officer who testified in a Ralph Nader case claiming that the Corvair was, as Nader’s book title implied, Unsafe at Any Speed.

The jury rejected the defense tactic and Fernandez was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to one year in the county jail. His driver’s license was suspended for three years. Though Fernandez was not convicted of DUI, he did testify that he and his two passengers “had been drinking some beers” before the accident. Fernandez served 10 months on his one-year jail sentence before being released.

The Scully family filed a civil suit against Fernandez for wrongful death and won a jury verdict that they were never able to collect. Scully was born April 8, 1951, in Sacramento to Patrick and Eileen Scully. She grew up on a poultry ranch owned by the Scully family in Rio Linda, CA (near Sacramento). Her father was born in Ireland but had lived in Rio Linda since 1946.

She graduated from Rio Linda High School in June of 1969. She attended American River Jr. College for two years (where she played on the field hockey team with her sister Mary), and then transferred to California State University, Sacramento, where she received her B.A. in social science and anthropology (archaeology) in January 1974. She was an excellent student and received scholarships and awards of merit for her scholastic achievements. At the time of her death, Scully was working on a M.S. degree in anthropology and environmental resources at California State, Sacramento. She had completed all coursework and lacked only a thesis.

Scully joined the California Parks and Recreation Service (later the CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation) in 1974. In late 1974 she graduated from the Parks and Recreation Academy (i.e., the Mott Training Center in Asilomar) after six weeks of training. She was one of two women among the 38 cadets in academy class #18. Her first assignment after graduation was to the Big Basin State Park where she received additional (interpretative) training.

Scully’s last assignment of her 1 ½ year career was as a State Park Ranger 1 at the Pescadero State Park in Half Moon Bay on the San Mateo Coast. In her spare time, she worked on a historical survey of Ana Nueva State Beach. Colleagues stated that she was dedicated to the preservation of the environment and the education of the park visitor. She was a 9-year veteran of the Dept. of Parks and Recreation at the time of her death.

Besides her parents Scully, 25, was survived by four sisters, Kathleen Poole, West Sacramento; Mary and Teresa Scully, Rio Linda; and Margaret Scully, Berkeley; one brother, Thomas Scully, Santa Cruz; and her fiancée, Park Ranger Leslie Cowie of Stockton.

In 1976 the friends and family of Ranger Scully established a perpetual Memorial Fund with the National Audubon Society. Each year the Fund sends people working in an environmentally related field to Audubon Workshop training sessions.