Procession honors fallen ECPD officer
EL CENTRO -Throngs of people gathered along Imperial Avenue on Monday to pay solemn tribute to fallen El Centro Police Officer Efren Coronel, who died Wednesday after having previously contracted COVID-19.
The gatherings were prompted by a lengthy procession of law enforcement, public safety and private vehicles that initially started in Lakeside and traveled to Frye Chapel & Mortuary in Brawley.
Standing along Imperial Avenue at Broadway aside a pickup truck displaying a “Thin Blue Line” flag were El Centro residents and brothers Justin and Jonthan Hernandez, who counted themselves among the many whose lives were touched by Coronel through the years.
“It’s as up close and personal as we could get to see Officer Coronel one more time,” said Jonthan Hernandez.
And as the children of an El Centro police officer, the Hernandez brothers said they were well aware of the lengthy record of professional and public service Coronel amassed in his nearly 24-year career with the department.
The brothers recalled the time and effort Coronel made to steer kids straight while he was a Central Union High school resource officer at a time when they had attended.
“It’s a fantastic thing knowing that our small community came together to support his family and law enforcement despite all the recent events that are going on,” Jonthan Hernandez said.
And as the children of a police officer, the brothers are intimately aware of the anxiety and preoccupation that family of law enforcement officials experience whenever their loved ones are on duty.
“Being the child of a police officer is very hard,” Jonthan Hernandez said. “It’s very emotional having to worry.”
Coronel began his career with ECPD as a community service officer in 1994 before becoming a police officer on Dec. 17, 1996.
Prior to his passing at the age of 51, Coronel had earned the rank of senior patrol officer and was the assigned officer in charge of a patrol team.
Outside of work he coached T-ball, and served in a similar capacity with the El Centro PAL program and the Dynamo El Centro Soccer Club, where he was also a board member.
El Centro resident Noni Lopez said that Coronel had previously served as her son’s field training officer when he joined the department about 10 years ago.
She also recalled seeing Coronel with his family in tow frequently during community events, which makes his sudden absence all the more difficult to bear.
Lopez said she counts a number of law enforcement officials among her immediate and extended family, and acknowledged not only the inherit dangers of the job, but the related worry that loved one feel as well.
“You pray when they leave and you pray and ask God to bring them home safe, every day,” Lopez said.
Lopez and accompanying family members watched the procession from the CVS parking lot as it drove northbound into Brawley. Afterward, the group traveled to the El Centro police station, where they left flowers and erected handmade signs that displayed Coronel’s badge number, 354, and read “Forever in our hearts” and “Thank you for your service.”
Accompanying
Lopez was El Centro resident Michelle
Osuna, who said she did not know Coronel all that intimately, but nonetheless was mourning his passing.
“Even though you may not know them directly, it still hits close to home and it just affects you in many different ways,” Osuna said.
After exiting Interstate 8 onto northbound Imperial Avenue, the procession veered off and passed by the ECPD station, where personnel stood outside and saluted.
Coronel had contracted COVID-19 while making an on-duty arrest. He had been hospitalized at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego for about three weeks before being taken off life support. Services are expected to be announced at a later date.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra, as well as his teenage son, Sebastian Efren, and daughter, Galilea.