Archives: Fallen Officers

Dana E. Paladini

Officer Dana E. Paladini and a sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene of a vehicle accident involving a horse trailer. One animal suffered a broken leg, and the owners asked the officers to shoot the horse. The deputy sheriff fired three shots – one ricocheted off the trailer wall striking Officer Paladini, who died shortly afterward. The 25-year-old patrol officer had been a member of the CHP for only nine months.

Charles O. Ley

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Charles Ley was assigned to the Industry Station at the time of his death. Deputy Ley was in pursuit of a traffic violator on the San Gabriel River Freeway when he lost control of his patrol car. The patrol car rolled over an embankment, landing upside down, critically injuring Deputy Ley.

Kenneth E. Walters

Officer Kenneth E. Walters died on Monday, March 27, 1972, in a traffic accident. He was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southwest Division.

Paul Stevens

On January 28, 1972, Sgt. Paul Stevens, a veteran police officer with the City of Ripon Police Department, contacted a suspect with an outstanding warrant for his arrest. During the course of the arrest, the suspect was found to be in possession of marijuana.

Sgt. Stevens and a fellow officer tried to take the suspect into custody. The suspect resisted arrest and a physical altercation ensued.

Sgt. Stevens fell to the ground at the scene of the arrest and he died. Sgt. Stevens’ partner, the Ripon Fire Department, and a local doctor tried to revive him. Sgt. Stevens was pronounced dead on scene. Sgt. Stevens suffered a fatal heart-attack as a direct result of the suspect’s resistance.

Sgt. Stevens is survived by his son, James Stevens, a retired deputy.

Leslie “Paul” Schellbach

On December 12, 1971, an armed robbery occurred at a market in Lincoln, California.  As the suspects fled the scene in a vehicle, a witness pointed them out to the first responding officer.  That officer gave chase in his personal vehicle until the suspects failed to negotiate a turn, and crashed.  They exited the vehicle and immediately shot the officer with a shotgun. The officer ran to a local farmhouse where he called for help.

Officer Paul Schellbach responded and upon arrival was shot in the chest with a semi-automatic M-16.  Tragically, the injuries were extensive and Officer Schellbach did not survive.  The suspects fled the scene in the first officer’s vehicle.

Within several days all three suspects were arrested. Two of them were convicted and sentenced to life in prison and the third suspect committed suicide in jail during the trial.

Officer Schellbach, age 31, was survived by his wife Eilene, his son Les Jr., and his daughter Sharin.