Officer Goes Extra Mile to Help Grieving Family

After Oxnard Police Officer Jason Benites witnessed a crash that claimed the life of a 7-month-old boy, he decided to spend the holiday season making things a little easier for the grieving family.

It was shortly before 8 p.m. Dec. 21 when the car little Henry Valdez was riding in was struck head-on by a suspected drunk driver. Benites was patrolling in the area when he saw the final moments of the collision.

“I don’t have children, so I can only imagine their sense of loss. It’s always especially tough when these involve babies,” Benites said.

Henry died two days later, after being removed from a life-support system. According to Benites, 31, it is the second child the Valdez family has lost to accident or illness. The couple have two other daughters.

After giving the family details about how to receive financial help from the state for funeral expenses, medical bills and counseling, Benites passed the hat at the station and collected more than $900.

He rented an orthopedic bed for Henry’s mom, Maria Elena Gutierrez Lopez, 26, of Oxnard, who survived the crash but sustained a broken pelvis. The officer collected dolls and toys, purchased a big ham for dinner and dropped it all off at the family’s home Christmas Eve.

“We can’t expect to make everything better for them, but I felt it was the right thing to do,” Benites said.

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One, two, three strikes and you’re out in the old crime game.

That’s the case for Raymond Mendez, a 46-year-old Ventura man who was sentenced last week under the state’s “three strikes” law to 87 years in prison for passing about $400 in hot checks.

The law allows judges to impose a life sentence for a person convicted of three felonies.

Mendez has prior “strikes” for armed robbery of a doughnut shop in 1978 and for simulating a gun under his shirt and holding up a gas station in 1983.

It’s important to note that Mendez has a lengthy rap sheet beyond the crimes that were technically felonies. Since 1971, he has racked up 22 convictions for crimes including drunk driving, drug possession and domestic battery.

According to a probation report, the 400 bucks wasn’t used to feed his family or pay the electric bill. Mendez admits having a $20-a-day speed habit that’s kept him busy stealing for three decades, a prosecutor said.

“Was this sentence severe? Absolutely,” said Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Redmond. “But we are looking at someone who has been in the system on and off for 28 years for 22 separate convictions. It’s pretty clear he’s not going to change his behavior.”

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He’s a little pudgier but a whole lot cuter than most cops, and he graced the cover of the Ventura Police Department’s Christmas card this year.

Armed with a candy-cane baton, this version of “Frosty the Snow Cop” was designed by Police Cpl. Greg Parrish, an FBI-trained sketch artist.

Parrish normally uses black pencils to sketch renderings of crime suspects, but Chief Mike Tracy encouraged him to expand his repertoire and create a colorful holiday character.

It’s the first Christmas card ever designed in-house. Normally, the police do retail.

The snowman on the card is clad in a light-blue police shirt with brass buttons, a badge and a matching hat--along with a lime-green scarf, mittens and a carrot nose. The icy pile of snowballs has one arm extended.

The cover says, “FREEZE!” and the greeting inside reads “ . . . and have a Happy Holiday Season!”

The card was mailed to more than 500 current and past employees and friends of the department, said Lisa Purnell, a police administrative analyst.

“The idea was to make it a more personal thing,” said Lt. Brad Talbot. “Something lighthearted in law enforcement.”

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They got roast beef and gravy and little bags of hard candy on Christmas, but for the 1,100 or so inmates at Ventura County’s four jails, the arrival of the new millennium was no horn-blower.

There are normally no visiting hours on Fridays, so New Year’s Eve was quiet--except for a little television. Two hours before most people were ringing in the new year, it was lights out at jails in Ojai, Ventura, Santa Paula and Thousand Oaks.

New Year’s Day lunch was a veal patty, mashed potatoes and chilled apricots. Most inmates watched parades and bowl games all day, and some received visits from family and friends Saturday, a regular visiting day.

A few were released Friday night and a few more Saturday, but not because wishes came true. Releases occur daily.

“It’s just another day for them,” said Sgt. Patti Salas of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Holly J. Wolcott can be reached at Holly.Wolcott@latimes.com.