APTOS — On Wednesday, a contingent of deputies from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office traveled to Santa Cruz County to honor the memory of Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller — and support his grieving widow and law enforcement family in uniform.
Sgt. Gutzwiller, 38, was shot and killed June 6 as he and other deputies investigated reports of a suspicious vehicle. A suspect in the ambush attack was later arrested and has been identified as Steven Carrillo, 32, an active duty sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base.
Sgt. Gutzwiller worked for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office since 2006 and is survived by his wife, young child and another on the way.
At the service, his wife eulogized her husband as “too big, too beautiful to describe” while Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart used words like “courageous, intelligent, sensitive, caring” to honor his fallen deputy.
Sheriff Hart’s words yesterday to Sgt. Gutzwiller’s family “are words we echo here,” said MCSO Deputy Sarah Jackson, MCSO’s public information officer, on the department’s Facebook page. “We are here for you. Not just today, not just tomorrow, but for the years to come.”
