News and Alerts

San Diego Officer Wins Top Honors
By Christine Gray
Police
March 1998

 In the early morning hours of May 24, 1996, at the end of a long patrol shift, Sgt. Derek Diaz of the San Diego Police Department responded to a dispatch call that ended with him receiving the National Association of Police Organization's Top Cop award, as well as the Citizen's Award, in a Rose Garden ceremony with President Clinton, on Oct. 9, 1997.It all began with a 4:33 a.m. dispatch call that gave the description of two suspects believed to have just shot a woman. Sgt. Diaz spotted a car fitting the description of the one being driven by the suspects, and followed it. A block later the suspects jumped out of the still-moving car, leaving it to crash into a street sign. The driver of the vehicle fled one way and the passenger another.Still in his car, Sgt. Diaz followed the driver, and overtook the man within a block. Diaz got out of the car and initiated a felony pedestrian stop. The suspect refused to comply with Diaz's orders, and Diaz forced him to the ground. Moments later Officer Byron Joseph arrived to assist. He approached the suspect and bent down to handcuff him, but as he leaned down, the suspect jumped to his feet and began attacking him. Joseph was forced to use his OC. spray. According to Diaz, the OC had no effect, and the suspect did not even notice that the spray had been deployed.Finally, with no other options left, Diaz applied a carotid restraint on the suspect. At the same time, Joseph grabbed the suspect's arm in another attempt to handcuff him. The three struggled violently and fell to the ground.With his left hand, the suspect retrieved a pistol that had been concealed on his body. He aimed the gun at Sgt. Diaz's face. Diaz was still applying the carotid restraint and bent his head forward to avoid the shot.The subject pulled the trigger and shot Sgt. Diaz in the base of the neck. Diaz recoiled backwards and lost his grip on the suspect. Officer Joseph grabbed the suspect's arm, but a second shot hit Joseph in the arm. No longer able to use his left arm, Joseph grabbed the suspect's gun hand and tried to hold it against his bulletproof vest.Believing the suspect was about to fire again, a wounded Diaz grabbed the suspect's head and fired one round into his skull, killing him instantly. Diaz said, "Right before I shot him all I could think about was what my dad used to say. He was in the military and one of the things he told me was when you are fighting for your life, there is no second place."Both Sgt. Diaz and Officer Joseph recovered fully from their wounds. Diaz later learned that the suspect had just been released from the California Youth Authority, where he had been held for attempted murder and the shooting of a six-year-old boy during a robbery. The coroner found methamphetamine in his system.

 Note: At the time of this incident San Diego Police Department used "First Defense" brand of pepper spray.

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