Roll of Honor
Nick-Tomasito Birco
Incident
Officer Nick Birco was killed when his patrol car was struck by a van being pursued by officers at the intersection of Cambridge and Felton Streets.
The persons in the van had been involved in an earlier robbery of an individual. The victim had accompanied officers during a search of the van and located it a short distance away. As the officers approached it, the van sped away.
The officers pursued the van until it struck the rear quarter panel of Officer Birco's patrol car, causing it to spin around and strike a utility pole. The van then struck two buildings and crashed. Officer Birco had aborted an attempt to lay down spike strips at the intersection and was moving his patrol car when it was struck.
Officer Birco was transported to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
All four persons were taken into custody. The three occupants of the van were charged with murder, manslaughter, and other charges. The driver was convicted by a jury on September 23rd, 2010, of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, evading police, and gross vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Two other suspects were offered plea deals of 15 years, and the fourth suspect was never charged.
On May 30th, 2014, the California Court of Appeals upheld the second-degree murder conviction but overturned his sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Officer Birco was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Gulf War. who served with the San Francisco Police Department for five years.
Survivors
He was survived by his parents, two sisters, a brother-in-law, a niece, and two nephews.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-355361F5- 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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Police Officer Birco gave the San Francisco Police Department 5 years.
Thank you for your service to the San Francisco community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Nick-Tomasito Birco served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Police Officer Nick-Tomasito Birco 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 San Francisco Police Department, 35 of 106 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Nick-Tomasito Birco's cause is highlighted.
How Nick-Tomasito Birco Compares
Offender Outcome
Sentenced to life
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Nick-Tomasito Birco is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
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