Gerald Black, News Editor - Wednesday, May 26, 2004
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This award is given in honor of two Atascosa County Deputies who lost their lives in the live of duty.
Deputy Luis Garza was kidnapped and killed, along with his wife, Alida, in a rural area near Charlotte in 1973 by Leonard Freeman. Just two years later, Margarito Bravo murdered Deputy Aerl Jernigan on Stacey Road near Primrose, while he was responding to a disturbance call. This year’s award was presented to Assistant Chief Deputy Steve Gonzalez.
Also presented at the banquet, the Elida Garza Memorial Award is presented to the Citizen of the Year. This year’s award was given to Verdi resident Benny Garcia.
For the third year, high school students are also honored with $500 Thomas Monse-Mark Stephenson-Terry Miller Memorial Scholarships. This year six students received scholarship.
In addition, recognition is given as Life Time Members. It is awarded to association members who have served 20 years, non-association members who have served 25 years and those who have served and made a great sacrifice or contribution to law enforcement. This year Life Time Membership was given to Anita Jernigan (widow of slain Deputy Aerl Jernigan), Mary Alice Monse (widow of slain Deputy Thomas Monse), Rachel Stephenson (widow of slain Deputy Mark Stephenson, Karen Miller (widow of slain DPS trooper Terry Miller), retired Game Warden Emil “Sonny” Seewald and Viola Potts (widow of Deputy Murray Potts, who was also served with the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Officer of the Year
Assistant Chief Deputy Steve Gonzalez was named 2003 Officer of the Year.
Gonzalez entered law enforcement after graduating from the San Antonio College law Enforcement Academy in 1974. After one year with the Somerset Police Department, he became a reserve officer with the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Department. He worked closely with two of his friends, Deputy Aerl Jernigan (for whom this honor is named) and Deputy Jimmy Payne.
On February 1, 1977, Gonzalez began working full-time for Sheriff Tommy Williams as the resident deputy in the Primrose area – the same area served by his slain friend Aerl Jernigan.
Gonzalez worked on patrol duty for many years as he worked his way up in rank, first to Sergeant. He was promoted to Captain in 1984. As Captain, he supervised other patrol officers but continued the patrol in the Primrose area. In 1991, he was promoted to Assistant Chief Deputy, the position he still holds today.
In addition to his Departmental Administrative duties, Gonzalez continues to supervise the patrol division, and is also in charge of the vehicle fleet and equipment.
Unofficially, Gonzalez acts as a Special Operations Deputy. Many times he always volunteers for very dangerous assignments – and, works very closely with the Criminal Investigation Division. He volunteers to assist investigators with covert operations, surveillance and other assignments that have netted the arrest of several criminals.
Last year, Gonzalez was a key figure in breaking up a burglary ring hitting eastern Atascosa County..
When there was a series of burglaries Country Trails Subdivision, CID planned patrol saturation on October 20, 2003, and Gonzalez volunteered. He was the first patrol to arrive in the area around 8 a.m and spotted a suspiciously parked vehicle. Although he was unaware that the house where the vehicle was parked had been hit twice by burglars in the past four days, he spotted the vehicle as it sped away. Gonzalez and a fellow deputy stopped the vehicle and found a rifle lying in the back floorboard. This was the third time the house had been burglarized. The arrest cleared 12 burglaries and the recovery of almost all of the stolen items.
On November 5, 2003, Asst. Chief Deputy Gonzalez responded to a call for a “burglary in progress” near Verdi. A witness turned in the license plate number which was traced to a San Antonio resident. Gonzalez went to San Antonio as CID and other deputies worked at the burglary scene. He learned the name of a possible occupant of the vehicle, as well as the subdivision where suspects might be located. Gonzalez located the truck behind the house. The quick action resulted in two arrests where the truck was discovered and another arrest later that night. Seventy-five percent of the stolen property was recovered.
Steve Gonzalez is the son of Bertha and the late U.S. Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez. His brother, Congressman Charlie Gonzalez, now represents the district which their father served.
He and his wife, Becky, have two grown children, Adam, who lives and works in the Dallas area, and Joshua, a U.S. Probation Officer in San Antonio.
Steve Gonzalez became the third person in Atascosa County Law Enforcement Association’s history to be named “Officer of the Year” two times. A young Steve Gonzalez received the award in 1980.
Citizen of the Year
Chief Deputy David Soward, president of the association, presented Benny Garcia with the Elida Garza Memorial “2003 Citizen of the Year” award. This award in presented annually by the association to person for their outstanding contribution to the law enforcement community.
Garcia is a native of Atascosa County and a 1982 graduate of Pleasanton High School. He and his wife, Gena, and two children live in the Verdi community. He was chosen for the award based on his involvement leading to the apprehension of three burglars in November 2003.
Soward said Garcia “took notice of a strange vehicle at his neighbor’s home late one morning, and he new his neighbor was not at home.” He continued watching the and saw a person walking from the house to the vehicle. Knowing something was wrong, Garcia got in his own truck and drove by the neighbor’s house as the suspect was driving away. He was able to get an excellent description of the vehicle and the license plate number. Garcia immediately called the sheriff’s department and reported what he had seen.
Due to his quick actions as a concerned citizen and neighbor, the sheriff’s investigators tracked down vehicle, located and arrested all three suspects by the end of the day. Over 75% of the stolen property was recovered. Soward said, “Without his actions, this may have been an unsolved burglary and the suspects could have remained free to burglarize again.”
Scholarships
U.S. Marshal David Sligh, chairman of the ACLEOA Memorial Scholarships given in memory of slain officers, Deputy Thomas Monse, Deputy Mark Stephenson and DPS Trooper Terry Miller, presented awards to six students.
The students included Carrie Carpenter (Poteet), Javier Alvarado (Jourdanton), Skylar Evans (Jourdanton), Natalie Garza (Pleasanton), Carlos Ortiz IV (Pleasanton) and Joel Martin Mata (Pleasanton).
Carrie is the daughter of Steven and Jana Carpenter. She will be attending Angelo State University in San Angelo where she plans to study forensic sciences.
Javier is the son of Ben and Elsie Alvarado. His plans for the future include attending Coastal Bend College in Pleasanton and Palo Alto College in San Antonio. He wants to study criminal justice and would like to become a game warden.
Skylar is the son of Ronald and Carrie Evans. His plans include attending the University of Texas at Austin to study law. He has already worked in the Atascosa County Juvenile Justice Center.
Natalie is the daughter of Norman and Tina Garza and Debra Garza. Natalie plans to attend Sam Houston State University to major in criminal justice. Her goal is to follow in her dad’s footsteps and become a Deputy U.S. Marshal.
Carlos is the son of Carlos and Janie Ortiz. He plans to attend Northwestern University in Louisiana to study criminal justice. He would also like to join the U.S. Air Force and become a special agent with the Office of Special Investigations and later become a special agent with the FBI or the CIA. He has worked part-time in the District Attorney’s office.
Joel is the son of Juvenal and Vivian Mata. His uncle, Thomas Monse, is one of the officers for which this scholarship honors. Joel plans to attend Coastal Bend College in Pleasanton and study Law Enforcement so that he can follow in the footsteps of his uncle and become a local law enforcement officer.
Special Award
The Atascosa County Law Enforcement Officers’ Association bestowed a special award to District Attorney Lynn Ellison for his support to local law enforcement agencies. In his remarks, Ellison said his job was made easier by the dedicated work of the local men and women in law enforcement and their attention to details while investigating cases.
Music entertainment for the banquet was provided by a group made up of Atascosa County Sheriff’s Investigator Richard Wells, Atascosa Chiropractor Center owner Dr. Jimmy J. Zuniga and Associate Judge for the 4th Judicial Region Joe Vickers.