Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective Donald Mason suffered a fatal heart attack after struggling to subdue a mental patient in the courtroom at the San Bernadino County Superior Court at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino.
Detective Mason had worked until 2:30 am and returned to duty at 7:30 am to attend court proceedings that had been moved due to the Christmas Holiday. During the last court case, he was kicked in the groin and chest when a subject was ruled mentally ill in court. After court proceedings at 12:57 pm, he was driving and pulled over on Highland Avenue near Muscott Street and summoned aid, complaining of chest pains. He was transported to Community Hospital where he was unable to be resuscitated.
Detective Mason had served with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department for ten years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-C23750A3- 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.
Detective Mason gave the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the San Bernardino community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Mason.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Donald Archibald Mason is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In CA, 52 of 1,837 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 2.8% of this state's fallen. That is 1.2 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.
At San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept., 1 of 18 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 5.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Donald Archibald Mason's cause is highlighted.
How Donald Archibald Mason Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Donald Archibald Mason is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
17 officers from San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
