Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Sheriff Scott Ballantyne and Mr. James Chavez, a civilian pilot, were killed in an airplane crash near Lake Success at approximately 4:15 pm.
The aircraft was assisting deputies on the ground search for a subject wanted for brandishing a firearm. It was preparing to leave the area after the suspect was arrested when it suddenly lost altitude and crashed into a mountain in the area of Route 190 in Springville.
Deputy Ballantyne and Mr. Chavez were the only two occupants of the CTLE ultralight.
Deputy Ballantyne had served with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office for 27 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his mother and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-11B13397- 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
27 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Ballantyne gave the Tulare County Sheriff's Office 27 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Visalia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Ballantyne.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Scott Alfred Ballantyne 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 Tulare County Sheriff's Office, 10 of 16 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 62.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Scott Alfred Ballantyne's cause is highlighted.
How Scott Alfred Ballantyne Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Scott Alfred Ballantyne is highlighted in Feb.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
15 officers from Tulare County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
