Hemet park renamed for fallen deputy
Brett M. Harris, killed during on-duty collision, was on patrol for 15 months
From staff and wire reports
A park near Hemet will bear the name of a fallen Riverside County sheriff’s deputy who patrolled the area before his death in spring.
Deputy Brett M. Harris Park will be the new name for Valle Vista Park, Riverside County supervisors decided Tuesday.
The county-owned park, at 25175 Fairview
Ave., is in the unincorporated Valle Vista area east of Hemet. The proposal, brought by board Chairman Chuck Washington and Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez, was unanimously approved.
“During his tenure, Brett was heavily invested in the Riverside County Sheriff’s Explorer program and would take the young adults on ridealongs as an advisor,” they wrote. “He also specialized in domestic violence investigations during his time at the sheriff’s Hemet Station. Brett routinely received letters of gratitude from community members that he had assisted during his shifts.”
Harris, 26, was fatally injured in the predawn hours of May 12 when his sheriff’s patrol SUV was involved in a collision with a Nissan Maxima at the intersection of Esplanade Avenue and State Street in San Jacinto.
The Nissan plowed into the driver’s side of the patrol vehicle as it was going through the intersection after Harris received a call for assistance from a fellow deputy contending with a mentally disturbed person.
He suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the wreck and died the following day. The Nissan driver, 54-year-old Hemet resident Thennetta Dorrough, suffered minor injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. She was not charged in connection with the collision.
A CHP report completed in December concluded that Harris caused the collision by running a red light with almost no warning.
After his death, Harris’ vital organs were harvested per his personal wishes to donate them.
“It wasn’t just a job for
Brett; it was a calling,” Sheriff Chad Bianco said during the deputy’s funeral in June. “He knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. We were lucky to have him.”
Harris had been a patrol deputy for 15 months, prior to which he served as a correctional officer at the Byrd Detention Center in French Valley, where he was assigned after graduation from the sheriff’s academy in 2019.
He left behind his wife, parents, a twin sister and an older brother.