Incident
Police Officer David Vasquez was struck and killed by a vehicle at the intersection of 35th Street and Date Palm Drive while assisting at the scene of a traffic accident. He 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 motorist, 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. The driver was later prosecuted and sentenced to probation. Officer Vasquez had served with the Cathedral City Police Department since it was formed in June 1984.
Survivors
He was survived by his parents.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-2C02ED25- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Vasquez gave the Cathedral City Police Department 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Cathedral City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Vasquez.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer David Vasquez is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Cathedral City Police Department, 2 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 100% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. David Vasquez's cause is highlighted.
How David Vasquez Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. David Vasquez is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Cathedral City Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
