Mar. 29, 2024 4:12 AM
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Mulligan/1932
Yashur/1940
Murphy/1954
Beckwith/1930
Schuetz/1933
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Louis Pena
- Apr. 02, 1978 -
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(269)
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Resided: |
FL, USA
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Born: | Jun. 11, 1936 |
Fallen: | Apr. 02, 1978 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 41 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Coral Gables Police Dept.
Coral Gables, FL
USA |
County: | Dade |
Dept. Type: | Municipal/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Patrolman |
Sworn Date: | 1967 |
FBI Class: | Traffic - Vehicle Stop |
Weapon Class: | Vehicle |
On The Job: |
12 years
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Bio: Louis Pena was born in New York City on June 11, 1936, to Luis and Amalia Martinez Pena. His parents immigrated to NYC around 1927 from Puerto Rico. His maternal grandfather had been a police chief in several towns in Puerto Rico (including Caborojo and Mayaguez).
Louis was the only child of Luis and Amalia. His parents divorced when he was quite young and he was raised by his mother and step-father, Louis Frau. The Frau family included Louis' younger (by 11 years) half-sister, Martha Frau and his younger (by 22 years) half-brother, Jeffrey Frau.
Louis Pena grew up in the Bronx and attended St. Anselm Catholic Elementary School from the first through the eighth grade and then attended H.S. in the Bronx before dropping out at 17 to join the army.
Louis received his high school diploma (G.E.D.) while he served in the U.S. Army from 1953-1956. He served in the infantry and as a paratrooper while in the Army and was discharged on October 17, 1956, at the rank of SP-4. After leaving the Army he worked as an exporter/importer in NYC and in Miami (with his uncle) and also worked for a time at Aerodex in Miami repairing airplane engines.
In 1957 Louis Pena married Inez Afanador. Their parents had been friends in NYC when Louis and Inez were infants (the children were "crib mates") and they met again in Miami in 1956 leading to the meeting of Louis and Inez. A son, Louis Paul Pena, was born in 1958 in Miami. A daughter, Laura Jeneane Pena was born in 1964 in NYC. In 1963 the Pena family moved from Miami to NYC and Louis again worked in the import/export business. The family returned to Miami in the summer of 1966.
Louis Pena had a longtime desire to become a police officer but his mother was fearful and discouraged the ambition. His maternal grandfather had been a police chief in Puerto Rico and she did not want to have to worry about her son the way she had worried about her father. Louis' wife, Inez, also was opposed to his becoming a police officer, especially in NYC. She finally relented when Louis said he would only apply to be an officer in Miami. Since he was nearing the age limit to become a police officer, Louis Pena, at 31, applied for and gained employment with the Coral Gables Police Department in 1967. Louis was under the weight requirement to become an officer and thus drank 5-6 milk shakes a day (in addition to eating three meals) for the two weeks prior to the physical examination. When he still found himself 8 pounds too light, he taped metal bars to his legs for the weigh-in.
Inez and Louis separated in 1968 and divorced in 1969. Louis met his second wife, Lana Toback, while working a second job at FL National Bank. The couple married in 1969 and had two daughters, Lisa and Leslie.
From 1967 to 1974 Louis Pena worked as a uniformed patrol officer. In 1974 he was assigned to the K-9 unit and was matched with a German Shepherd, "Abe". Later that year Pena and Abe assisted in the capture and arrest of Thomas Otis Knight, who had abducted and killed a Miami couple, Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Gans. Knight later killed a prison guard and, in 1995, was on death row at Raiford prison with Manuel Valle, Pena's killer.
Officer Louis Pena's personnel file was filled with commendations and letters of appreciation from citizens. Pena received the "Lawman Award" from the Fraternal Order of Police in 1972 and in 1974 was selected "Officer of the Year", an award given to him by fellow officers as the best liked and most respected colleague. He had also received the Coral Gables "Officer of the Month" award several times and had received several national dog-handling awards. |
Survived by: |
first wife, Inez Afanador; a son Louis Paul Pena, 19, and Laura Jeneane Pena, 14; and two daughters, Lisa, 6, and Leslie, 2; his mother and stepfather, Luis and Amalia Frau of Hialeah; his father, Louis Pena, of CA; a half-brother, Jeffrey Frau, 19, of Miami; a half-sister, Martha Frau Estes, 31, of Miami; and three half-brothers, George, Anthony and Gilbert Pena.
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
Manuel Adriano Valle, Felix Ruiz
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Location: |
FL
USA
Sun. Apr. 02, 1978
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Summary: |
Coral Gables Police Officer Louis Pena, 41, a 11-year veteran, was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop on April 2, 1978. He became the sixth Coral Gables police officer killed in the line of duty. His killer was still on death row in 1995, 17 years after his conviction and sentence.
On Sunday, April 2, 1978, Officer Pena was assigned to the 3:00PM to 11:00PM shift as a K-9 officer and had his German Shepherd, "Abe," in the back of the police car. At approximately 6:34PM, Officer Pena observed a brown 1977 Chevrolet Camaro commit a traffic violation near LeJeune Rd. and Miracle Mile. Pena stopped the Camaro in front of 401 Almeria Ave., just west of Miracle Mile. The Camaro was occupied by two Hispanic males, the driver Manuel Adriano Valle, 27, and the passenger, Felix Victorino Ruiz, 24.
Officer Gary Spell responded as a backup unit and parked across the street from Officer Pena. Neither officer got out of his car. Unknown to the officers, the car was stolen and the driver, Valle, was on probation. The officers also did not know that the driver was wanted for both a parole violation and for the attempted murder of a Sweetwater policeman.
Valle exited the Camaro and walked back to Pena's car. Pena asked for Valle's drivers license. Valle said he did not have his license with him and told the officer his name was "Manuel Alvarez". Pena used his radio to contact the police teletype operator and requested NCIC and FCIC checks on the car and "Manuel Alvarez". The calls went through a police dispatcher who later indicated that the call from Pena lasted from 6:36PM to 6:45PM.
While Officer Pena was waiting for a reply from the teletype operator, Valle was given permission to return to his car for a cigarette. Valle got the cigarettes and then walked back to the police car. At one point Valle was sitting in the passenger seat of the patrol car. He overheard the police radio say that the Camaro belonged to a person by the name of "Willford Straun". At this point Valle realized that Officer Pena was about to determine that the Camaro was stolen and that he would be arrested.
Valle again returned to the Camaro and told his passenger, Felix Ruiz, that he would "have to blast the officer." Ruiz replied, "Well, we have no choice." Valle returned to the police car without a weapon as Ruiz attempted to approach the police car for the first time. Officer Pena ordered Ruiz to return to the Camaro and Ruiz complied with the order. Valle again returned to the Camaro and picked up a .380 caliber automatic pistol. As Valle walked to Pena's car with the gun, Ruiz began to walk away westbound on the sidewalk telling Pena that he had to make a phone call.
Valle walked to the driver's side of the police car, and while standing 3 to 4 feet away from the officer, shot him once through the open car window as Pena sat inside the patrol car. Pena's police dog, Abe, "barked frantically behind the cage in the backseat."
The bullet struck Officer Pena in the left side of the neck. Valle then turned and fired two shots at Officer Spell who was sitting in the back-up police car across the street. Spell twisted in his seat and attempted to duck beneath the dashboard but one bullet hit him in the back, below the shoulder. Fortunately, Spell was wearing a bullet proof vest and the bullet did not penetrate the vest (Officer Pena was not wearing a vest).
Officer Pena, though mortally wounded, was able to pick up the microphone of his police radio and say, "I'm shot." Several police cars and a Coral Gables Fire Rescue unit, which was stationed only two blocks away, were immediately dispatched to the scene. Lt. Richard Bannon heard Pena's radio plea and rushed to the scene. He found Pena sitting in the driver's seat of his cruiser bleeding from a wound on the right side of his neck. He attempted to apply direct pressure to stop the bleeding. Abe, the police dog, "was in a frenzied protective rage," and "kept police and a nurse at bay, protecting his dying master." He refused to allow anyone to touch Pena. Officers distracted him by poking through a window on the other side. When the dog spun around, rescuers dragged Pena from the car. (Miami Herald, 441978)
A nurse who lived nearby took over first aid attempts while awaiting the medical rescue unit. The wounded officer was removed from his police car and transported to Coral Gables Hospital less than 12 mile from the scene. Despite the efforts of several physicians and hospital personnel, Pena was pronounced dead at 7:48PM, 84 minutes after the shooting. Dr. Ronald Wright, an assistant Dade County medical examiner, would later testify that Pena "drowned in his own blood" after he was shot in the neck and that his pain was "excruciating."
Lt. Bannon then took the police dog, Abe, to Pena's home and (at 7:45PM) notified Pena's wife of the shooting. Bannon then transported her to the hospital. Pena's mother had bought him a bulletproof vest a month earlier and begged him to wear it. However, police say the vest would not have saved his life.
After shooting and fatally wounding Officer Pena and shooting Officer Spell, Valle ran back to the Camaro and drove east while his passenger, Ruiz, fled westbound on foot. Officer Spell, though shot, was able to exit his police car and fire six rounds at the fleeing Camaro which "screeched across a neighborhood lawn on Almeria, just west of LeJeune Road." Several of Spell's shots struck the Camaro and blew out the back window. Valle abandoned the Camaro in the 300 block of Miracle Mile where it was found later by Coral Gables police officers. Valle then fled on foot.
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Disposition: |
On May 3, 1991, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the third death sentence of Manuel Valle. In July of 1995, Valle still remained on death row, 17 years after the murder of Officer Pena.
Ruiz was received at Raiford on July 5, 1978, with a 20 year sentence. He was paroled after only 5 years on Aug. 20, 1983, but violated his parole and was returned to prison on June 22, 1988. He was released to Dade County at the expiration of his sentence on Feb. 8, 1990. Thus he served a total of 7 years on the 10 year sentence. |
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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