LAPD Loses First Sworn Officer To Coronavirus
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – An officer with the Los Angeles Police Department has died of coronavirus.
An official confirmed the death to CBSLA Friday. It marks the first sworn LAPD officer to die of COVID-19, and the second department employee, police said.
He was later identified as 45-year-old Officer Valentin Martinez. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said he was assigned to the department's Mission Station.
The LAPD said he is survived by his domestic partner, who is 20 weeks pregnant with twins, his mother and siblings.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League said it would always remember Martinez's service to the department, and said the union's love, prayers and unwavering support were with his family.
"Today we mourn the loss of 45-year-old Los Angeles Police Officer Valentin 'Val' Martinez, who succumbed today from complications related to COVID-19," the union said in a statement. "He was a hero lost way too early in life."
Through Monday, the LAPD had reported that at least 419 of its personnel had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Earlier this month, 39-year-old Erica McAdoo, an LAPD senior detention officer, died of coronavirus. Flags at the California State Capitol were flown at half-staff in her honor.
The Los Angeles metro area is one of the biggest coronavirus hot spots in the nation. Through Thursday, L.A. County has recorded 166,848 coronavirus cases and 4,262 deaths from the disease.
