Roll of Honor

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Deputy Sheriff

Joseph Baca

Medina County Sheriff's Department — Medina, OH

Illness

End of Watch August 28, 1976

Age 57

Tour of Duty 15 yrs

Badge 128

The Vigil Panel 117 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Joseph Baca suffered a fatal heart attack after struggling with a subject during a domestic violence call on Ledge Road in Hinckley. At 4:15 p.m., Deputy Baca and two other deputies were sent to a home to quell a dispute between a husband a wife. Deputy Baca and another deputy struggle with the male subject. One deputy was pushed into a bee nest. The deputies were able to arrest the subject. Deputy Baca returned to his patrol vehicle, where he became unconscious. He was taken to a local hospital where he was unable to be revived. The suspect Deputy Baca was struggling with was committed to a state hospital. Deputy Baca had served with the Medina County Sheriff's Department for 15 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-OH-35BC91D7
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.
Deputy Sheriff Baca gave the Medina County Sheriff's Department 15 years.
Thank you for your service to the Medina community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Baca.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Medina County Sheriff's Department

Location Medina, OH

Platform Identity mcso.medina.oh.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 28, 1976

Tour of Duty 15 yrs

Age 57

Badge Number 128

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness

Deputy Sheriff Joseph Baca is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In OH, 49 of 991 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 4.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.2 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.

Medina County Sheriff's Department

of 1 officers

100% Illness

OH — Statewide

of 991 officers

4.9% Illness

Nationwide

2,974

of 32,508 officers

9.1% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Joseph Baca's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Joseph Baca Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Illness: 47.8 years

Years of Service