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Jose Raimundo DeLeon
- Dec. 21, 1984 -
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(216)
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Resided: |
Miami (Miami-Dade County) FL, USA
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Born: | Jan. 02, 1958 |
Fallen: | Dec. 21, 1984 |
Race/Sex: | Hispanic Male / 26 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Miami Police Dept. - FL
400 NW 2nd Avenue Miami, FL
33128 USA (305)603-6640 |
County: | Miami-Dade |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Patrolman |
Sworn Date: | 7/1982 |
FBI Class: | Crash |
Weapon Class: | Vehicle |
Agency URL: | Click Here
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On The Job: |
2 years
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Bio: Jose Raimundo DeLeon was born on Jan. 2, 1958, in Matanzas, Cuba, the only child of Juan Bautista and Ondina Margarita Abreu DeLeon. His father was a printer and his mother a teacher in the LA Progresiva Presbyterian School in Havana. Jose attended La Progresiva Presbyterian School before his family moved to the U.S. Jose came to the U.S. with his family in 1972 when he was 14 years old. He attended Miami Sr. H.S., graduating in 1976. As a youth he especially enjoyed playing the accordion and electric guitar. He was taught by his mother who was a music teacher. Every night he would play the accordion for his elderly grandmother.
After H.S. he attended George T. Baker Aviation School to learn to become an airplane mechanic. On Sept. 26, 1976, two months prior to graduation, Jose married Maria Ramos, and did not complete the course. Jose's second marriage was on May 5, 1984, to Blanca Rosario Rodriguez. On Oct. 20, 1984 (two months before his death), Blanca gave birth to their son. The baby was named "Jose Angel" because he was the angel his father had been waiting for. Jose also became the step-father to Blanca's son by a previous marriage.
Prior to joining the Miami Police Dept. in 1982 at the age of 24, DeLeon worked as a forklift operator and at a wood products company.
DeLeon graduated from the police academy on July 23, 1982, and had been a patrolmen for the two years prior to his becoming a member of the motorcycle squad. DeLeon had recently graduated from a two month training program for new motorcycle officers. He earned four commendations during his career. |
Survived by: |
a son, Jose Angel, 2 months, and a stepson, Alexander Alpizar, 5, and by his parents, Juan and Ondina DeLeon.
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Jorge Reinaldo Ortiz
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Location: |
FL
USA
Fri. Dec. 21, 1984
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Summary: |
Jose DeLeon, 26, was a two-year veteran of the Miami Police Department and had been a member of the motorcycle squad for only two weeks when he was killed in a collision during the pursuit of a traffic violator on Dec. 21, 1984. He was the 29th Miami officer and the fourth Miami motorcycle patrolman killed in the line of duty since 1915.
Around 9:00AM on Friday, Dec. 21, Officer DeLeon and his partner and training officer, William Williams, were sitting on their motorcycles on the north side of a park on S.W. 11 St., between 4th and 5th Avenues (a block from where I-95 becomes U.S. 1). They saw a Burgundy vehicle run a stop sign westbound on S.W. 11 St. Deleon took off after the violator and turned on his blue lights and siren as he sped off on the damp roadway.
Jorge Reinaldo Ortiz, 44, of Miami was driving a 1980 Maroon Chevrolet westbound on S.W. 11 St. He was traveling "in the wake" of the vehicle being chased. DeLeon attempted to pass the Ortiz vehicle when Ortiz suddenly began to make a left turn at 9th Ave. Ortiz apparently did not hear the siren or see the blue light and thus did not know that the motorcycle was on his left.
As Ortiz began his left turn, his front left bumper struck the right rear black fiberglass saddlebags of DeLeon's motorcycle. DeLeon, who was traveling at 45-50 mph, attempted to maintain control of his motorcycle as it swerved for approximately 100 feet as he continued westbound. The motorcycle then fell over trapping DeLeon in front of it. The motorcycle continued to slide for 50 feet at approximately 40 mph with Officer DeLeon trapped in front.
The 1,100 pound motorcycle propelled DeLeon's body, head first, into a curb, shattering his helmet. At this point, DeLeon and the motorcycle became airborne for approximately 25 feet, hit the ground again and bounced for another 25 to 30 feet with DeLeon still attached to the motorcycle. DeLeon was finally dislodged and the motorcycle continued sliding for another 90 feet.
Officer Williams was two blocks away when he heard a radio dispatch that a motorman "was down." The radio alert came a little more than a minute after DeLeon had sped off in pursuit of the violator. Williams then rushed to the scene.
Fire rescue was called to the scene at 9:01A.M. in reference to a "motorman down." Paramedics arrived at 9:06A.M. and found the officer unconscious and without any vital signs. CPR was initiated and the officer was transported to the emergency room at Jackson Memorial hospital and was admitted at 9:20A.M. An automatic chest compression machine, called a "thumper," was keeping his heart beating. A breathing tube had been inserted in his throat, and two lines were feeding him fluid intravenously. He had no vital signs. Dr. Geraldo Gomez led the surgical team that opened the officer's chest and massaged his heart in an effort to revive him. The team also applied electrical shock to restore a heart beat. Its efforts failed.....Afterward, a police chaplain came in and prayed." (Miami Herald, 12221984) DeLeon was pronounced dead at 9:37AM from "massive cranial trauma, multiple skull fractures." His skull had been shattered. The surgical team was particularly devastated since several of the medical staff knew DeLeon, who often brought injured persons to the emergency room. Blanca DeLeon, the slain officer's widow, "was at home with her baby when grim police officers arrived with the news that every police wife fears."
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Disposition: |
Ortiz went to trial in traffic court on Jan. 22, 1986, before Judge Calvin Mapp. During the 30-minute trial, Judge Mapp heard testimony from Det. Cheetham and ruled that Ortiz was guilty of failing to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle. However, he withheld adjudication and did not assess any points or fine. The state made an attempt to revoke Ortiz' driver's license since Florida Statutes allow revocation for a traffic citation involving a homicide. However, this effort failed since adjudication had been withheld. Ortiz driver's record with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles indicated that the Dec. 21, 1984, citation was the only blemish on his record. However, after 1984, Ortiz accumulated a long list of traffic offenses in Dade county including a 1989 DUI conviction. |
Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN DADE COUNTY, FL, 1895-1995
by William Wilbanks
Louisville: Turner Publications
1996
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Last Updated: May. 29, 2019 |
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