Cabrillo Village Remembers Injured Officer as Hero

As CHP Officer Saul Martinez lay in critical condition in a Palm Springs hospital Friday, friends and family in his childhood home of Cabrillo Village expressed grief for the man who stands as an every-day hero to many of them.

“He’s just the kindest person in the world,” said a tearful Norma Garcia, whose cousin was struck by a speeding car along a desert highway early Thursday. “If you looked for help he would do anything. And he would keep asking how you were until everything was better. He was an example for all his cousins, my mother, my father. Me, too.”

On Friday, as word of Martinez’s injuries spread through the small community, neighbors and friends had only questions--and sorrow.

“He comes from such a good family,” said one shopper at the local grocery store. The grocer agreed, looking at Martinez’s picture in the newspaper again and again, shaking his head.

By midafternoon, carloads of relatives were heading to Desert Hospital where Martinez lay, his body punctured with the tubes of a life-support system after being hit by a car while pushing a fellow officer to safety.

He and Officer Donovan Rice had stopped to investigate a car parked alongside an empty stretch of highway north of Palm Springs. Through the darkness, a second car came hurtling along the shoulder, pinning Martinez and dragging him about 15 feet. He was in critical condition with massive head injuries late Friday.

Relatives said Martinez comes from a family dedicated to public service. They said one of his brothers is a Ventura police officer and another is a firefighter.

Along a sun-baked street, Martinez’s uncle expressed disbelief as he prepared for the trip south.

“He always gets involved,” said Benito Martinez. “He tries to get the whole family involved [in community activities].”

Martinez, 39, left Cabrillo Village many years ago to work for the United Farm Workers union in the Coachella and San Joaquin valleys, working closely with UFW President Cesar Chavez before becoming a CHP officer seven years ago. His parents still have a treasured photo of Chavez and Martinez in their Cabrillo Village home.

Residents remember Martinez for his efforts to get family members to play softball together, and for organizing huge family reunions in Mexico, inviting relatives from as far away as Atlanta and Texas.

Martinez was born in San Luis Potosi in northern Mexico and came to this country when he was still very young, Garcia said.

Tami Low, a public information officer at the CHP office in Indio where Martinez is stationed, said the station has been swamped with flowers, cards and donations for Martinez and his family.

“The Coachella Valley is a very close community, and everyone is really pulling together,” she said. “People are even honking their horns and waving to us when they pass us, and offering us their condolences when they see us personally. It’s been very heartwarming. People don’t normally do that.”

Contributions to the family can be sent to the Martinez Family Trust Fund, at First Community Bank, 74750 Highway 111, Indian Wells, CA 92210.