Fallen Heroes Banner Program Recognizes Cathedral City’s Fallen Police Heroes
At last night’s City Council meeting, Lee Wilson, a Cathedral City High School teacher and organizer of the Palms Springs Fallen Heroes Banner Program, presented two new banners recognizing fallen Officers Jermaine Gibson and David Vasquez. The banners, presented to the Council, will soon go up to acknowledge these two Police Department heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving to protect Cathedral City and its residents.
POLICE OFFICER JERMAINE GIBSON
END OF WATCH: SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011
Biographical Info
Age: 29
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 6 months
Badge Number: 2901
Incident Details
Officer Gibson attempted to pull over a stolen vehicle at approximately 11:30 pm and gave chase after the suspect failed to pull over. His vehicle left the road and crashed in Palm Springs at approximately 11:55 pm. The suspect vehicle also crashed and two suspects were taken into custody.
POLICE OFFICER DAVID VASQUEZ
End of Watch: Friday, October 28, 1988
Biographical Info
Age: 30
Tour of Duty: 4 years, 4 months, 27 days
Badge Number: 6
Incident Details
Officer Vasquez was assigned to provide traffic control at a non-injury collision. He had laid out a cone/flare pattern to shut down one lane of traffic for the officers to safely conduct their investigation. A civilian driver, later found to be driving on a suspended license, drove into the closed lane and struck Officer Vasquez at approximately 30-40 mph, killing him almost instantly. He was rushed to Eisenhower Medical Center and pronounced dead upon arrival.
