Officer Dies a Week After Saving Partner From Crash

PALM SPRINGS — The California Highway Patrol officer who pushed his partner safely out of the path of an oncoming car--only to be struck and severely injured himself--died Thursday afternoon at Desert Hospital.

Officials at the hospital said Saul Martinez, 39, died after his family agreed to take him off the life-support systems to which he had been attached since suffering severe head injuries in the accident May 8.

“Saul belonged to the people for 15 years,” his wife, Remedios, told his fellow Highway Patrol officers Thursday night. She said some of his organs will be donated for transplantation “so that in death, as in life, he will be giving.”

At a ceremony in Indio--where citizens had gathered as part of a statewide observance of Police Memorial Week to honor officers who died in the line of duty--people broke down and cried when they heard the grim news about the popular officer.

“He was a good man--he always came through,” a shaken CHP Sgt. Bill Dato, supervisor at the CHP office in Indio, said after learning that his friend had died. “It will take us a long, long time to get over this.”

Investigators say Martinez and his partner, Donovan Rice, had stopped the night of May 8 to check out a car parked on Dillon Road, an isolated highway in the desert north of Palm Springs. The vehicle’s registration tags had expired, so the two officers started walking back to their patrol car to get a ticket book and cite the 18-year-old driver.

Suddenly, from out of the desert night, a car bore down on them, scattering dirt and pebbles as it veered off the pavement and onto the shoulder of the highway.

“I heard the sound of crunching gravel and Saul yelled, ‘Run!’ ” Rice recalled later. “But at that point, everything went into slow motion for me and Saul pushed me--slammed me--out of the way.”

The oncoming car collided with the parked vehicle and hit Rice a glancing blow on the leg. Martinez was run over and dragged about 15 feet before being pinned beneath the wreckage.

“I started screaming and hollering for Saul, and I didn’t hear him,” Rice said. “I knew it was bad.”

Rice, unable to stand, ordered the driver of the car that had struck them to use the CHP radio to call for help. The driver, Joseph La Paglia, 63, radioed that he had run over a patrolman.

Converging police officers pulled the wrecked car off Martinez and the two injured patrolmen were rushed to the hospital.

Rice was treated and released but Martinez, who never regained consciousness, was placed in the intensive care unit. Officials said his condition never improved, and on Thursday, when it became apparent that he had no chance of recovery, he was taken off the life-support systems.

La Paglia, cited initially for suspicion of driving while under the influence, was later released pending completion of the crash investigation.

Martinez, who was active in community affairs, was named Latino Police Officer of the year in the Indio area prior to the crash. His 12-year-old son, Saul Martinez Jr., accepted the award on his behalf Saturday.

On Wednesday, the governor’s office announced that Martinez, who grew up in Ventura County, would received the state Medal of Valor for his heroism.

In addition to his wife and son, the seven-year CHP veteran leaves two other children.

Funeral services are pending.

Marcum, a Times correspondent, reported from Palm Springs and Indio. Malnic, a Times staff writer, reported from Los Angeles.