HOUSTON – Mourners gathered Friday to remember Harris County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Darren Almendarez, who was killed in a shootout with three alleged catalytic converter thieves.
On March 31, Almendarez, who was off-duty at the time, and his wife were out grocery shopping in the 2900 block of FM 1960 near Aldine Westfield when he encountered the three men allegedly stealing the part from his truck, according to authorities.
Gunfire erupted, and Almendarez was struck. He was rushed to an area hospital where he later died.
The suspects, Joshua Stewart, 23; Fredarius Clark, 19; and Fredrick James Tardy, 17, were each charged with capital murder.
Family, friends and law enforcement officers attended the funeral, which took place at Humble First Assembly of God, to honor the life of the man they knew and loved.
“I come before you with a broken heart as we honor the life of a great man and a great deputy.” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez began. ”We must do better. We can not allow these assaults on law enforcement to continue. We understand that bad things happen to good people, but it shouldn’t happen to officers who do all the right things while protecting their community.”
Gonzalez went on to say his heart breaks for the grieving family of Deputy Almendarez, who made the ultimate sacrifice for what he believed in.
Gonzalez said the real tribute comes from everyone who came together to speak about the acknowledgements and fond memories of the deputy.
“When a police officer dies in the line of duty, an entire community pauses,” Gonzalez said.
The sheriff said the characteristics that exemplified Almendarez the most were his grit, determination, love for serving others, teaching and willingness to continue to learn.
Almendarez’s wife bravely took the podium, speaking about her husband.
She began by telling Almendarez’s fellow “brothers” how much he loved them and how he knew they would always have his back.
Through tears, and surrounded by love and support, she spoke about the beautiful life they shared together and its horrific end.
“Right now, to me, this is all a dream. I still can’t get those ugly images out of my head as much as I try to fight it,” she said. “I can’t and I don’t know when I will be able to forget that night.”
She then read aloud a letter that she wrote for her husband.
“Thinking and reading all of your cards and letters you wrote me, I can’t help but to cry and want to feel your arms around me so much, my love, because I miss you terribly, she said, adding that she can still hear his voice, whispering to her how much he loved her, and she just wants him back by her side.
She went on to recount the day of the deadly encounter. Almendarez told his wife “wait right here, babe,” as they walked out of the store and saw the suspects committing the crime.
His next words to her were “run babe,” followed by “call 911.”
Mrs. Alemendarez said the last thing her husband said to her was “I love you, babe, I can’t breathe.”
She shared that she is glad she was able to hold him one last time, and knows he will forever be their protector.
Almendarez’s daughter spoke about the fun-loving nature of her father, sharing memories of him taking her to the carnival so she could ride the ferris wheel, even though he was afraid of heights, and how he loved to play soccer with her, even if it was just kicking around a balled up piece of paper around the living room.
Surrounded by support of family and Almendarez’s brother in blue, the teen made it clear how much her father meant to her.
“I’m glad I got to spend 14 years of my life as a daddy’s girl,” she said.
HSCO Sgt. Mark Schmidt, a friend of Almendarez since 2009, gave a powerful and emotional speech on the fallen deputy’s dedication and bravery.
“If I falter, I apologize right now because we were close,” he said. “He [Almendarez] stood before all from the get-go before he even came to us. The guy just wanted to do the right thing, do the job and put bad guys in jail.”
Schmidt said Almendarez never complained, was proactive and always did an awesome job, working with the anti-gang center, traffic enforcement assignments and skillfully troubleshooting any technical device issues that ever came their way. Almendarez went above and beyond.
“This wasn’t just a job, this was a calling. Darren is one who we refer to as a ‘cop’s cop.’ He never backed away from work, and if a particular case needed more time, he took the time. He always wanted to train to be better and if someone was in need of help, he was always there,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said, for Almendarez, if you wore a badge, you were not a stranger, you were a brother.
A very emotional Schmidt continued, “To Darren’s entire family, we are here to support, encourage, hurt and pray with you. We know we don’t hurt in the same way, but we’re there.”
He then summed up what being an officer, and a protector means to them.
“In this profession, we are sometimes referred to as the sheep dogs. We defend the sheep, the innocent, the weak and those who cannot defend themselves from evil,” Schmidt said. “We have lost one of the county’s, if not the state’s, bravest sheep dogs. He’s been a true defender as well as very close friend.”
Schmidt closed, “We, along with Darren, are that thin, blue line who stand between the law-abiding and the evil and we must honorably carry on for him.”
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