Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John Pedro was killed in an automobile accident in Santa Cruz County while attempting to stop a vehicle at 6:59 am.
Officer Pedro, who had only been on duty for 14 minutes, turned on his emergency lights and accelerated onto an exit ramp from Highway 1 near Watsonville. As he did so, his patrol car went out of control and overturned several times before striking a tree.
Officer Pedro was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the California Highway Patrol for 13 years.
In June 2005, a stretch of Highway 1 between Harkins Slough Road and the Pajaro River Bridge was renamed the John Pedro Memorial Freeway.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, also a California Highway Patrol officer, and 2-year-old daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-ABE4AF3F- 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.
Officer Pedro gave the California Highway Patrol 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of California, and 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
John Pedro served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Officer John Pedro 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 California Highway Patrol, 151 of 233 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 64.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Pedro's cause is highlighted.
How John Pedro Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Pedro is highlighted in Jun.
Others Who Wore This Badge
232 officers from California Highway Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
