MAYWOOD : Former Police Chief Malatacca Dies at 69

Former Police Chief Charles Malatacca died March 15 of a heart attack at his home in Cathedral City. He was 69.

Malatacca joined the Maywood Police Department as a patrolman in 1959. He also served as a motor officer and as a sergeant, and in 1975 was appointed chief, a post he held for five years.

“People always say they pictured Chuck in a motor officer image, the cop on the street,” said Ed Ahrens, Maywood’s assistant chief administrative officer. “He was more a rugged policeman than a politician. He was more comfortable as a man on the street.”

After leaving the Police Department, Malatacca retired and moved from his Downey home to Las Vegas, where he lived for about five years before moving to Cathedral City.

A heavy smoker, Malatacca suffered from emphysema, which is believed to have been a factor in the heart attack, Ahrens said. Malatacca was buried March 19 at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange. Malatacca is survived by two children, John of Diamond Bar and Carla King of Anaheim Hills, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.