Obituaries : Ector A. Garcia; Ex-Police Artist

Retired Los Angeles Police Detective Ector A. Garcia, whose skill as a police artist is credited with snaring dozens of criminals in a law enforcement career spanning more than 20 years, died Thursday at St. Vincent’s Hospital after a brief illness.

Garcia, 62, became well-known for the his composite sketches of robbery and homicide suspects drawn after talking to witnesses or victims. When he wasn’t sketching, he worked the streets as an officer.

That was what he was doing in March, 1959, when 46-year-old George J. Arevalo went berserk in East Los Angeles and killed two people, including Detective J. L. Castellanos. Garcia, although shot in the face, returned fire and killed Arevalo.

As a result of the shooting, Garcia was blind in one eye and thereafter sported a distinctive black eye patch.

One of Garcia’s most strikingly effective composite drawings was of Gaylord Haymond, sought in 1953 for an attempted attack on a woman. When caught, police said that Haymond’s “mug” photo was almost identical to the artist’s sketch. Garcia drew more than people, however. Once in the early 1950s he listened carefully to a 14-year-old’s description of a cut-down sedan used by market bandits. In less than two hours after the sketch was issued, a Glendale officer spotted the car and arrested its occupants.

He authored a book called “Portraits of Crime.”

Born in El Paso, Tex., Garcia moved to Southern California and attended Woodbury College, graduating in 1949. He tried free-lance commercial art work and was an editorial cartoonist on a newspaper in Seattle.

After a stint as an artist for a Los Angeles printer, he joined the Police Department, retiring about six years ago to become a partner in Olympic Service Investigations, a security consulting and investigations firm in Los Angeles.

Garcia leaves his wife, Ernastina, and two daughters. Funeral arrangements are pending.