Deputy Clifford E. Sanchez, 31, was shot and killed on April 6, 1985, during a robbery in the parking lot behind a cocktail lounge on North Sierra Way in San Bernardino, California. He was sitting in his pickup truck with a female companion when two men approached, robbed him and shot him three times in the head and torso. The assailants took his revolver and fled; they initially escaped the scene.

Investigators identified two suspects: Christopher Caldwell, 18, and Cedric Davis, 21. Caldwell was arrested shortly after the shooting. Davis, then serving time in Chino Prison on a parole violation, was charged with murder two months later. Both were convicted of first-degree murder; in April 1986 Caldwell received 25 years to life and a month later Davis was sentenced to 27 years to life.

Sanchez had served six years with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, assigned to the central jail division since October 1981 and previously at the Fontana substation and the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center. He was a U.S. Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and is survived by his parents, Larry and Joan Sanchez, and his sons, Larry and Anthony.

Did anyone who knew Deputy Sanchez or who was in that area on April 6, 1985, notice anything that could shed more light on the robbery?