Stanton Officer Found Hanged in Apparent Suicide

A Stanton police sergeant chosen in 1984 as Officer of the Year apparently hanged himself in his girlfriend’s apartment, where her two daughters found him, police and neighbors said Saturday.

Sgt. Michael Caballero, 36, died Friday sometime between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at a Garden Grove apartment on Bailey Street. Garden Grove police said they found no suicide note.

Stanton Police Officer Tony Perkins, Caballero’s roommate for about a year, said Caballero had seemed depressed recently and had been “having problems,” both in his personal life and at work.

Perkins said he saw very little of Caballero in the last week. “He was avoiding me. I think if he would have talked to me, I would have known.”

Perkins described Caballero, a seven-year veteran of the Stanton Police Department, as loyal and caring to what he called his “troops.”

“Mike was by far one of the best sergeants we had at work,” Perkins said. “He really took good care of his men.”

As a watch commander, Caballero was in charge of the patrol division during one of three daily watches.

But in the past six or seven months, Caballero had become unhappy at work, Perkins said.

Caballero had been separated from his wife in Anaheim for about a year, Perkins said. They have three sons, ages 8, 10 and 12. He shared an apartment with Perkins on the same block as his girlfriend’s home.

Neighbor Ruth L. Woodward arrived home Friday afternoon and saw the two girls, who thought the body was a dummy, she said.

Neither Garden Grove nor Stanton police would release further information.

Caballero, a Fullerton native, had worked for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the police departments of Newport Beach and Skagway, Alaska. He also served in the Army Airborne Division. He was promoted to sergeant in Stanton in March, 1984.

Funeral arrangements were not confirmed as of Saturday.

Times staff writer Steve Emmons contributed to this report.