Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1731
70 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2009 Central Police Supply 1410 Washington Ave. Houston, TX 77002 1-800-231-0040 Add $5.50 per item S&H Heroes Trust Streamlight™ www.centralpolice.com STINGER ® LED Light Only.......................$83.95 w/DC Charger.................$95.95 w/AC Charger...............$101.95 w/AC & DC Charger......$113.95 SL-20XP ® LED Light Only.......................$73.95 w/DC Charger.................$85.95 w/AC Charger..................$91.95 w/AC & DC Charger......$103.95 SL-20X ® LED Light Only.......................$94.95 w/DC Charger...............$106.95 w/AC Charger...............$112.95 w/AC & DC Charger......$124.95 Slain Oakland offi cers touched the lives of many, will be sorely missed Daniel Sakai, 35, was the youngest of the four offi cers to die at the hands of the 26-year-old parolee with two guns. Colleagues say that even on his fi rst day at the Oakland P.D. Academy in 2000, Daniel Takashi Sakai had a big smile and bound- less enthusiasm for his new career. Dan went from patrol officer to canine handler, patrol rifl e offi cer, academy fi rearms instructor, sergeant and eventually SWAT team entry leader. Sakai's wife Jen- nifer is a UC Berkeley police offi cer. The couple have one daughter, three-year-old Jojiye. Lt. Peter Lau, one of Sakai's supervisors, said: "He was relatively qui- et, but he commanded his young troops' respect. He cared about those young- sters." Sakai grew up in Big Bear Lake, a resort community in Southern California. He was an Eagle Scout and loved hiking mountain trails. He graduated from Big Bear High School, then moved up to the Bay Area to attend UC Berkeley, where he studied forestry and be- came a huge Cal sports fan. He was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and worked as a commu- nity service offi cer, escorting students around the campus at night. "Dan brought so much to life," said his close friend and former partner Offi cer Cesar Garcia. "He was a person you looked up to. You admired him and wanted to be like him. "He wanted to be the best he could be. He wanted to serve the community here in Oakland and he loved being a police offi cer." Information for this report courtesy of Angela Hill of the Oakland Tribune. Ervin Romans John Hege Ervin Romans was a for- mer Marine Corps drill instructor, a "tactical guru," and expert marksman who instilled the importance of safety in the hundreds of offi cers he trained. "He knew everyone, and everybody knew who he was because he teaches in the academy," said po- lice spokesman Offi cer Jeff Thomason. "He was a great teacher." In 1999, Romans received the department's highest honor, the Medal of Valor, for risking his own life to save residents in a West Oakland fi re. He was promoted to ser- geant in 2005 and worked narcotics cases and the crime-reduction team, a specialized unit that combats street-level narcotics deal- ing. He also was a fi ring range m a s t e r s e r g e a n t . M i k e Nichelini, now a motorcycle offi cer for the Vallejo Police Department, was Romans' partner for several years. "He had an exterior of be- ing all business," Nichelini said. "He loved being on the SWAT team, and he taught everyone the tactics." Romans was a native of Michigan. He lived in Danville with his wife, Laura, whom he re- cently married. The couple were raising three children – Kristina, Justin, and Kayla. Romans' former roommate Brad Lawrence, said Ervin prided himself on being an excellent cook. Lawrence said, "I don't know where it came from, a Marine from Michigan mak- ing this food, but the man could really put together a mean lasagna." Information for this report courtesy of Kristin Bender of the Oakland Tribune. John Hege, 41, was a "beer and brownie man" who combined his love for the department and the Oak- land Raiders by working overtime at the Coliseum during home games. He loved riding motorcycles, had an impressive collec- tion of sports memorabilia, and enjoyed skiing and trout fi shing. But mostly he loved being a cop. Hege was de- scribed as someone always fi rst to respond and a cop who was always calm as he patrolled the streets of Oak- land. "There are ways to talk to people," said Offi cer Jeff Thomason, the department spokesman. "And he knew how to do it." Offi cer Hege was declared brain dead one day after the shooting but remained on life support so his or- gans could be donated. He worked as a physical educa- tion teacher and a volunteer reserve officer before he became an Oakland cop. He served as a reserve of- fi cer for the Oakland Police Department from 1993 until 1999, when he joined the department full time. Hege was single and had no chil- dren. He lived with his dog, Bosco, who will be adopted by neighbors. His parents would some- times catch their son on the television. "We were cer- tainly aware of the risks, and I'm sure he was aware of the risks," said John's dad, a re- tired physician. "You never really think that's going to come home. You fi gure it's going to be someone else." Hege's family donated his organs and the California Transplant Donor Network announced that four lives were saved as a result. Information for this report courtesy of Kelly Rayburn of the Oakland Tribune. Mark Dunakin, or "Dun- ny," as everybody called him, was a big teddy bear and die-hard Ohio State Buckeyes and Pittsburgh Steelers fan who proudly patrolled the streets on his Harley-Davidson motor- cycle after serving a stint as a homicide investigator. Dunakin, his friends say, was devoted to his family: his wife, Angela, and chil- dren, Anthony, 15, Sienna, 13, and Patrick, 8. "He had sort of an innocent way about him. He was always very open, a kind of big teddy bear," recalled Sgt. Tim Nolan, who worked with Dunakin in patrol and homicide. Dunakin worked for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office before joining the Oakland Police Department as a patrol offi cer in 1991. He served in criminal in- vestigations and homicide, and taught academy recruits the intricacies of homicide and robbery investigations. Hayward police Sgt. Corey Quinn, who met Dunakin when the two departments teamed up for traffic en- forcement events, said, "Ev- ery time he'd see me, he'd do the line from (the movie) Tommy Boy: 'Brothers don't shake hands, brothers hug,'" Quinn said. "I can tell you that my life is better from knowing him." Dunakin was born in Elyria, Ohio, and raised in Pleasanton. He played varsity football and played trombone in the march- ing band at Foothill High School, where he graduated in 1987. He was a sports fan, always rooting for his be- loved Ohio State Buckeyes and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Information from this report courtesy of Cecily Burt of the Oakland Tribune. Mark Dunakin Daniel Takashi Sakai