Slain Baldwin Park Officer Honored As Hero At Funeral

BALDWIN PARK, CA — Baldwin Park Police Officer Samuel Riveros was remembered Thursday as a hero, a devoted public servant and a beloved family man who made the ultimate sacrifice while responding to a call for help, as hundreds gathered to honor his life during a memorial service in Ontario.

Riveros, 35, a nine-year department veteran, was shot and killed May 31 while responding to a home where another victim, 43-year-old Darius Wong — a married father of two — was also fatally shot.

Thursday's memorial service at Toyota Arena, which was not open to the public, was attended by family members, Baldwin Park Police Chief Robert Lopez, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Bishop Carl Besaw. They were joined by local, state and federal law enforcement officials, along with friends and relatives of Riveros, to honor his life and service.

A private burial followed.

Lopez, Baldwin Park's police chief for the past five years, said he usually walks onto stages for things like cadet graduations.

"My walk today is a sad one," he said, adding that he was on hand to honor "a fallen hero who lost his life in a hail of gunfire."

It was the first line of duty death for the Baldwin Park police department, he said.

"The sadness and grief that followed (Riveros' death) cannot be measured in words," Lopez said.

"To his family, there is ... nothing I can say or do that will relieve the sadness and pain you feel in your hearts, but know that Sam truly loved you all," the chief continued.

He said Riveros "served with honor and integrity," embodying the department's values, and had an infectious smile and was an inveterate Los Angeles Dodgers fan who would even travel to their away games.

Hochman also spoke at the service, beginning by offering his deepest condolences to the families of Officer Riveros and Darius Wong.

"When I was thinking about what to say today about Officer Riveros, thinking about his life, a message came through — and that is the message that Officer Riveros had a call to service. He viewed being a police officer not only as a job or a profession but a calling — a calling that starts deep in his soul — as it does for other law enforcement officers — a calling that he starts to realize throughout his life," Hochman said.

"As a boy scout, as a safety commissioner in high school, until he got to the final point when he had the final reckoning where that calling would be best used as a police officer... and on the day of May 31, a final sacrifice of Officer Riveros occurred," Hochman said.

During the funeral service, Besaw recalled first meeting Officer Riveros after finishing high school, while staying with his sister, Lily, and brother-in-law, Mike.

"I remember Sam as the strong, silent type. But what I remember most is his kindness," he said.

"Over the years, I would see him occasionally at family events. I was always impressed by the love that he had for his family, and I never imagined that someday I would be speaking at his funeral. When I received the phone call from Mike at 1:30 in the morning, telling me that Sam had been shot and killed, I experienced many emotions — shock, anger, helplessness, and sadness."

Besaw said he struggled with what he could say or do for the family in their time of need. He said that while the loss of a loved one is never easy, he was moved by how Riveros' family leaned on their faith.

The suspect in the shootings, 22-year-old Eduardo Roberto Medina- Berumen, was wounded in a gun battle with Riveros and other officers. He was ordered held without bail and is awaiting arraignment July 31.

At his court appearance on June 11, Medina-Berumen appeared in a wheelchair and agreed to postpone the arraignment at the request of his public defender.

The murder charges against him include special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder of a peace officer that could open him up to a possible death sentence if convicted as charged.

Medina-Berumen is also charged with one count of possession of an assault rifle and two counts of attempted murder involving other Baldwin Park police officers, including Officer Anthony Pimentel, who was wounded when he was hit by shards of glass that came from a bullet that investigators believe hit a windshield.

Riveros was part of a response dispatched at 7:15 p.m. on May 31 to the 4200 block of Filhurst Avenue, a few blocks east of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway, about a man with a rifle firing shots, the sheriff's department reported.

Pimentel and fellow officer Alfredo Leal arrived at the scene first in separate cars and were "immediately fired upon by this suspect who had a rifle," according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

"An officer-involved shooting occurred at that time and Officer Pimentel was injured as a result of the suspect's gunfire," Luna said, adding that Riveros arrived soon after and he was "tragically struck by the suspect's gunfire and unfortunately that ended up being a fatal gunshot."

Other Baldwin Park police officers who subsequently arrived at the scene were involved in a "second volley" of gunfire in which "the suspect went down," according to the sheriff.

City News Service