Mourning, outrage over officer's death

[vorlos]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...pfolo0920.html

Judi Villa
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 20, 2007 12:00 AM

Phoenix police Officer Nick Erfle knew a single round from an AK-47 assault rifle would rip right through his bulletproof vest.

But the gunman he was chasing more than a year ago had just pulled into an elementary school as parents and buses dropped off children.

Instead of waiting for backup or pulling behind the suspect to shield himself, Erfle placed himself squarely between the AK-47 and the schoolyard full of children.

That's just the kind of officer he was.

"He put himself right in direct fire," said Sgt. Phil Roberts, who once supervised Erfle. "Nick really was truly one of those officers that was an exception. He loved his job, and he went out there every day to catch bad guys."

Erfle, 33, an eight-year veteran and married father of two, was shot in the face and killed Tuesday after he and his partner stopped a jaywalker in central Phoenix.

The killer, Erik Jovani Martinez, 22, had given the officers a fake name that linked to a misdemeanor shoplifting warrant. When Erfle and Officer Rob Rodarme tried to arrest Martinez, he fought with both of them, police said Wednesday. All three men had fallen to the ground when Martinez pulled a gun, fired multiple times and ran.

Rodarme chased Martinez but couldn't return fire because the area was too crowded. Martinez commandeered a stopped car at gunpoint and ordered the motorist to drive.

About an hour later, tactical officers surrounded the vehicle and killed Martinez after he raised a gun to the hostage's head and threatened to kill him.

Only then, through fingerprints, did detectives learn who Martinez really was, an illegal immigrant who had been deported last year and had a felony warrant for aggravated assault.

A father, husband, officer
On Wednesday, friends, co-workers and an entire community mourned the officer who had a "sixth sense" about bad guys and a knack for finding drugs and stolen cars.


They mourned a husband who was deeply in love with his wife and a father who doted on his two boys, ages 3 and 5. T

hey mourned a fighter who overcame cancer twice and passed up a desk job to live his dream.

"I think, most important, Nick would always want to be remembered as a good father and a good husband, and he was," Roberts said. "Secondly, I think Nick would want to be remembered as a good cop, and he was."

Erfle won a Medal of Valor in 2006 for the schoolyard incident, which ended peacefully, and Roberts said his personnel file is "just littered with commendations."

Erfle's passion for his job always stood out, Roberts said. He remembers how Erfle's second bout with testicular cancer was so much worse than the first and how co-workers worried he wouldn't be able to come back. But Erfle always said, "Oh, I'm coming back out on the street, boss. There's no doubt in my mind."

He was a role model for other officers, the kind of officer Roberts had hoped his own daughter would look up to when she recently joined the force and was assigned to Erfle's precinct.

He was funny and caring and never complained, even if he was asked to do traffic control for hours in 100-degree heat. "Obviously, Nick would not have wanted the outcome to be this," Roberts said. "But just seconds before this happened, Nick was doing exactly what he wanted to do. . . . He went out and found the worst possible person, and he made contact.

And he did it because he wanted to make the streets of Phoenix safer."


A growing tribute
At 24th Street and Pinchot Avenue, where Erfle was killed, a memorial grew on Wednesday. The site was full of candles, flowers, balloons and a cross. Children's drawings of police officers lay next to a large American flag draped over the grass. Cards and letters of condolence surrounded a tiny rosary.

Despite the busy intersection, those gathered remained silent as at least a dozen officers paid their respects.

Officer Chris Wilson worked with Erfle at the Squaw Peak Precinct and said the slain officer had recently switched squads to have weekends off with his family.

Wendy Hughes traveled from her home in Glendale and left a poster with a Bible verse from the Book of Matthew.

"Blessed is the peacemaker," it said, "for they will be called sons of God."

CJ Maniates, a Vietnam veteran, left his Purple Heart along with a letter that read, "I knew him, yet I didn't know him." His war medal was his way of saying thank you to Erfle's family.

At the Paradise Valley school, where Erfle's oldest son was in first grade, the children wrote letters to the little boy. The school's director, Piya Jacob, said Erfle frequently gave classroom talks about being a police officer.

"He was a very loving and involved parent," Jacob said.


A life 'robbed'
Kathy Guzman Cramer said she cried when she saw the dead officer's picture and realized it was her former neighbor. She used to see Erfle almost daily, pushing one of his sons in a stroller and walking the family dog.

Every once in awhile, Guzman Cramer, who works for the Phoenix Fire Department, would ask Erfle why he didn't become a firefighter, instead. "He would always say he was a police officer, and that's what he was there to do," she said.

Guzman Cramer thought about the two little boys who will grow up without a father. She thought about the wife who will never again touch her husband. She thought about the unfairness and the senselessness of it all.

"He was just at the beginning of his life. . . . And he got robbed," she said. "It's a huge loss."

Republic reporters Astrid Galvan and Laurie Merrill contributed to this article.


http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/com...w.php?id=80540
Phoenix Police Officer Nick Erfle was was shot and killed Tuesday morning. He was an eight-year veteran of the department and was married with two children.

http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/com...w.php?id=80742
Erik Jovani Martinez, an illegal immigrant who had been deported last year, fled after shooting Phoenix police Officer Nick Erfle, commandeering a stopped car at gunpoint and ordering the motorist to drive. About an hour later, a Phoenix police tactical team surrounded Martinez, 22, on a west Phoenix street and shot him dead as he pointed a gun at the hostage. The hostage was not hurt.







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Nathan Rasmussen, pays his respects, at a memorial on the corner of 24th and Pinchot, for Phoenix Police Officer Nick Erfle, who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Rasmussen is a paramedic who works in the same area as Erfle.
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Friends, colleagues remember fallen officer Erfle
Reported by: Corey Rangel


Officer Nick Erfle

Fighting back tears, friends and fellow Phoenix police officers are remembering fallen comrade Nick Erfle.

"He was an inspiration to us all. Hey really was," said Sgt. Phil Roberts.

He was an inspiration, in part, because Erfle overcame cancer twice.

He then returned to work, determined to get back on the streets as soon as he could.

"After what he went through with the cancer, I almost thought he was invincible," said Ofc. Jeff Meyers, who worked in the same precinct with Erfle.

His supervisor, Sgt. Rodrigo Hernandez, recalled Erfle arrested three felons on his very first day he returned to the job.

Before going after criminals, his co-workers said his mornings always started the same.

"Riding with Nick - once he had his muffin in the morning - it was time to go find bad guys," joked Meyers.

As much as he loved being a cop, his friends said the job didn’t compare to the one he had at home.

"I don't think Nick wanted to be remembered as a good cop, but he was a good cop," said Sgt. Phil Roberts. "I think Nick wanted to be remembered as a great husband and a great father and that's what he was. he loved his family dearly."

Nick leaves behind his wife, Julie, and their two sons, ages 3 and 6.

Erfle was shot and killed in central Phoenix on Tuesday morning. The 33-year-old had been trying to arrest a suspect when the two got into a fight and the suspect pulled his gun and fired.

STORY AND VIDEO:

[Whitebear]

Illegal Immigrant Responsible For Death Of Police Officer

Erik Jovani Martinez

A makeshift memorial is growing for a Poenix police officer killed in the line of duty Tuesday.

Investigators say 24-year-old Erik Jovani Martinez shot and killed Officer Nick Erfle, after Erfle stopped the him for jaywalking.

The officer discovered there was a warrant out for Martinez's arrest and he tried to arrest him. There was a struggle, and the officer was shot. Erfle was rushed to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center where he died from his injuries an hour later.

Officer Erfle had served with the Phoenix Police Department for 8 years. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Martinez was in the country illegally last year when he was arrested and convicted on sex charges.

After the shooting, police say Martinez carjacked someone. When officers caught up with the vehicle, they say Martinez pointed a gun at his hostage's head.

That's when officers shot and killed Martinez.

After deportation, shooter was caught, freed again

Erik Jovani Martinez


Erik Jovani Martinez should have been in prison and not jaywalking the day he gunned down Phoenix police Officer Nick Erfle.

But despite a lengthy criminal history and a deportation, Martinez remained free, even after he was arrested again in the Valley just two months after he had been forced to leave the country in 2006.

Scottsdale police say they didn't know Martinez, 22, was an illegal immigrant or that he had been deported when they arrested him in May 2006 for grabbing his girlfriend's arm twice during a quarrel.

Martinez was deported in March 2006 after a felony conviction for theft.

Had Scottsdale police known, Martinez should have been jailed and should have faced federal charges for returning to the country illegally. A conviction would have earned him up to 20 years in prison.

Instead, he posted $300 bail and was released.

On Wednesday, one day after Martinez gunned down Erfle on a central Phoenix street, the officer's death reignited the ongoing immigration debate.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon called on Washington officials to "secure the border and secure it now" before another officer pays the ultimate price.

"This individual that took our officer's life is a perfect example, a poster child, of our failed Washington policy for securing our borders," Gordon said.

But others say Martinez shouldn't necessarily be a flashpoint in the acrimonious debate over where immigration policy and law enforcement should intersect.

Martinez was brought to the United States as an infant and lived his whole life here. Clearly, he also was a career criminal, racking up a dozen arrests before he turned 18 and continuing to have brushes with the law afterward.

Even law-enforcement officials said they were hesitant to say Erfle's murder could be blamed on immigration issues.

"It's a big, complex issue," said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has been in the national forefront when it comes to pursuing undocumented immigrants.

Still, Arpaio admitted, "You can't catch 'em all. We have a lot of violence out there, whether you're legal or illegal."