Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Officer Gonzalez,
On today, the 50th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Arlington County. And to your Family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

R.I.P.
USBP

Anonymous
United States Border Patrol

October 25, 2022

It's been 50 years Israel, 'Speedy'. You were a true gentleman and outstanding Police Officer of ACPD. I tried, as well as Bill Bilenky (sp), to keep you with us. God Bless you and your fallen brothers & sisters. Rob R. I was there, giving my all to you and Bud Candee.

No Rank
Involved with incident. Bank employee.

October 24, 2022

May you be in God's presence. I have missed you since you moved away from NYC in 1972. I miss your friendship, love, and your company. I remember going with you to George Washington high school in Washington Heights in your black VW beetle to pick up your HS diploma. Wish you were here so we could be family. God bless you.

Willie Seguin
First Cousin

June 23, 2021

Officer Gonzalez, rest in peace.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

May 28, 2019

I was likely the last person to see Speedy alive. I was the assistant Head Teller at the Arlington Trust Company-Crystal City Branch that day. This came up tonight with some friends. Bill Bilenki (sp) went to Speedy & went for Bud Candy. We did the best we could.

Arlington Trust Company, Asst H/T
Arlington Trust Company

August 14, 2018

RIP, my friend! You were a good friend to me when I was young! Your positive influence, led me to becoming a officer!

Dr James Osborne 111, Retired Detective
Oklahoma City Police

July 7, 2018

I visited the spot where you gave your life for the community today, 45 years later. The building still stands, and life here continues peacefullly. Your sacrifice has not been forgotten by those who picked up the torch to follow in your example.

ACPD

ACPD
Arlington County Police Department

October 25, 2017

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Matthew 5:9

Marshal Chris Di Gerolamo
Federal Air Marshal Service

June 24, 2016

this is my husbands uncle......................he was killed in the line of duty always remembered never forgotten even back in the day not just 9/11/11...this is all the way back in the 70's when cops still did theyre job right.......god bless you and R.I.P...............your family loves you god bless you

Susan Gonzalez
Niece

January 20, 2015

I think of Speedy often, especially at times like this as I sit on surveillance across from the Tarpon Springs Public Safety Building. Their Officer Charles Kondek was shot, killed and run over by a convicted felon out on parole with a loaded stolen handgun early this past Sunday morning. As people, many with small children, arrive to lay flowers on his squad car and to honor him, I remember that as a rookie, Speedy took me under his wing and mentored me, even when he wasn't my assigned training officer. I was only 6 months out of the Academy when he was killed. I was honored to be chosen as his pallbearer and as an honor guard as he lay in state. I still miss you, Speedy.

B. Davis, ACPD #420

December 23, 2014

As an Aux. Officer, I worked with "Speedy" frequently. He was one of the most liked and respected officers on the force. With his death all who knew him suffered a great loss as did his family.

Retired DOD Officer Dean Maycock

April 5, 2014

Officer Gonzalez was just one of the many fine officers I had the pleasure to serve in my career at ACPD. His community is all the poorer for his violent passing in the defense of the innocent citizens of Arlington County. May he always be fondly remembered. Rest In Peace Israel.

ECT E49
Arlington County Police Department/Emergency Communications Center

January 11, 2014

Officer Gonzalez was just one of the amny fine officers I had the pleasure to serve in my career at ACPD. His community is all the poorer for his violent passing in the defense of the innocent citizens of Arlington County. May he always be fondly remembered. Rest In Peace Israel.

ECT E49
Arlington County Police Department/Emergency Communications Center

January 11, 2014

I had been on the Arlington Police Department for 5 years when
"Speedy" was shot and killed in the bank robbery in Crystal City.
He was a fellow patrol officer and friend. His death was a shock to me and the first of three Arlington Police Officers, killed in the line of duty, while I was with the department. I remember writing letters to the Virginia Dept. of Corrections, after the Tullers were incarcerated, asking that they never be released on parole because Virginia did not have a death penalty for the murder of a police officer at that time. Luckily, the "system" took care of them. I have often thought of the time in my life that included Israel Gonzalez.

Detective, Retired
Arlington Co. Virginia Police Dept.

June 4, 2011

Your heroism and service is honored today, the 38th anniversary of your death. Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer murdered in the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

Rest In Peace

Phyllis Loya

Phyllis Loya
mother of fallen officer Larry Lasater

October 25, 2010

Officer Gonzalez was truly an inspiration to me and a proud reflection on the men and women that served in the Arlington County Police Department. I met Officer "Pete" Gonzalez when I worked at the Lums Restaurant near the River House apartments, in the summer of 1971, before attending college in the fall.

Officer Gonzales would frequently stop by in the evening for his dinner break. One evening I approached his table and asked if I could talk to him about what it was like being a police officer. I remember being struck by his warm, friendly and outgoing demeanor. Instead of brushing me off as some young kid who was interrupting his dinner break, he seemed genuinely interested in answering my questions and told me to come over and talk to him anytime. I took him up on that offer, and we had several conversations over that summer, including discussing my college plans and giving me the benefit of his advice. He was the first police officer that I had ever had the opportunity to get to know on a personal basis and that experience has left a lasting impression on me.

A year later, on a warm October day, I was stopped at a police road block in Arlington. When I asked the officer what was happening, he told me a police officer had been killed during a bank robbery in Crystal City. I remember pausing for a moment, and then suddenly asking what was the officer's name. The reply, of course, was Gonzalez. My heart sunk.

A few days later I attended the funeral for Officer Gonzalez and then, in my beat up VW Beetle, followed the long procession of police vehicles to the cemetery. With my long hair and coat and tie, I stood with hundreds of law enforcement officers from all over the state, in their dress uniforms, to pay our final respects to a man that gave his life to protect the public he served.

It has been nearly 38 years since that day. While my memories of those summer conversations have long faded, my memory of Officer Pete Gonzalez has never diminished. Pete was a credit to his profession and his memory should serve as a proud example of what public service is truly about. I am proud to have known him and honored to have been his friend.

Jeff Scheulen
Virginia State Police, civilian

September 23, 2010

"The Badge"

He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.

He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.

Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.

He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whos blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.

His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.

He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.

And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.

But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.

Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.

Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.

So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.

In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.

Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.

Written By:
David L. Bell
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1993 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell
Richland County Sheriff's Dept., Columbia, SC

April 1, 2008

You are remembered today adn thank you Sir for your service

Vandenberghe
NH

October 20, 2007

It is an honor to have a name and know that another police officer has the name I also carry. In The last few years I have been exposed first hand to the lost of two brother officers.... first one being while Officer Michael Wise and I were involved in a shoot out. Mike stood along side of me brave and fearless. I will never forget him being shot and killed. It is a night that is so vivid in my mind hearing and feeling..... the shots i will never forget.
Here again two years later I go to sleep and I am awaken by my brother also a police officer to tell me that my Brother in law has been shot.... when me and his sister get to the hospital it is too late Scott is gone.... the troubling part of this is that I know both Scott and Mike visited me. Scott during his last breaths and Mike came to me days after his death... now I suddenly see this posting of an Israel GOnzalez being killed many years back.. I know God has a plan for me and I am very confused as I am trying to find exactly what it is. Let me know what I am to do Dear Lord. I have long followed you and tried to serve you. I have walked the walk, served military and now in the City of Reading. I am on a road that has many bumps. I am trying. Why do good men die? THese men lived for us and showed us the path to freedom. Our brothers have paid the ultimate price and their families are left to suffer. Dear friend how Can I tell the world the greatness you've given?

I am proud to find that Israel Gonzalez Is a hero "God Bless You" see you in heaven and I can't wait to give you a great big hug for the person you were. You not only changed lives back then but still even today you are touching hearts as you have touched mine today.

Thank you I needed to know you.

Officer Israel Gonzalez 37 yoa in readng pa a proud officer of the law.
God bless.

Police officer Israel Gonzalez
Reading Police Department, Reading Pa 19601

October 15, 2007

As an Auxiliary Officer logging an average of 40 hours per month, I got to know ‘Speedy’ Gonzales quite well. We only lived about two blocks from each other. Over the course of several years, I became closer to Speedy than my own blood brothers. We spent many off duty hours working together on our houses with his newly finished basement serving as the gathering place for those visiting after his funeral.
Speedy’s parents brought him to this country as a child before Castro took control of Cuba. He became an American in every sense of the word eventually giving his life for his fellow citizens in Arlington County. He had a great sense of humor enjoying his home life with his wife Sarah and reveling in the frequent visits of his niece Pelar. His service to his fellow officers was exceptional serving many times as an interpreter during back up situations. His dedication to duty was responsible for his presence in the bank during the robbery. When the Tullers cut the phone trunks severing the alarms during lunch hour he immediately began visiting all the banks in his sector to advise the managers of the exposures of staying open with the alarms out of service. He walked into this bank while the robbery was in progress. As one of the bank tellers directed him toward a back room after becoming suspicious, one of the robbers stepped into a hallway and opened fire. To his credit, Speedy got off several shots wounding one of the robbers before he was gunned down from the rear.
As the facts of the case became known and it was determined that the perpetrators had made their way to Cuba, many of us sent telegrams to Castro pointing out that he was providing shelter to murderers who had killed a good Cuban in our community. Several years later the father and two sons surfaced in our country again. One of the sons was captured and identified after an attempted robbery of a super market in the south. When the media spread the news that the cop killers were back, the rest of the family surrendered to the FBI rather than face capture on the streets.
As I enter my 70’s and the memories of a lifetime become rather fuzzy, the time I shared with Speedy remains as clear as if it just happened yesterday. God speed my friend, you’ll live at least as long as I do.

Auxiliary Sgt. John W. Mallery
ACPD 1968-1976

September 28, 2007

We had all been on vacation together that summer and what fun we had at the beach. I had turned 7 then and I felt grown up. When I came home from school to find Sara crying at my house,the house full of people and then, I was told that you had been killed I was in disbelief. Thank you for being so good to me, my father's best friend, and a great influence in my life. I will always remember you and love you. Besitos y Carinos.

July 10, 2006

You are a hero… you are MY hero. I am sure that you are in the heavens above us, and I pray that the Lord gives me the same strength, courage, and willingness he gave you to do a job well done. As one of Arlington’s newest police officers, and as a Latin-American in the Northern Virginia area, I want you to know that I hope to be as good as a police officer as I am sure you were. Every time I see your picture in our department’s wall of honor, I am constantly reminded of your sacrifice, and I try to never forget you, or the other officers who gave their lives doing what they believed in…. their jobs. Thank you for being a true inspiration in my life. Que Dios te bendiga a ti, y a tu familia (may God bless you and your family).

Arlington County Police Dept.

February 6, 2006

I was only 12 when you were killed but it touched my family so close. My father was a Police Officer in the next jurisdiction over and probably went to your funeral, 2 months later he gave the same sacrifice and your wife reached out to my mother loaning her the same black veil she had wore just 2 months before.

January 27, 2006

OFFICER GONZALEZ REST IN PEACE. YOU HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN. YOU WERE KILLED BY THREE OF AMERICAS WORST. THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN BORN AND LIVED IN CUBA WHERE THEY WANTED TO GO.

BOB
RETIRED

November 19, 2005

We still mourn your loss....rest easy brother.

Chief of Police / Olen M. Young
Wauneta PD Nebraska

October 26, 2005