Anthony Alan Giniewicz was a Signal Hill police officer who was mortally wounded in a violent encounter on February 19, 1985. After finishing a shift, Giniewicz and his partner, Officer Steve Owens, were dining at a Long Beach restaurant when three armed gang members accosted Owens, stole his badge and service weapon, and briefly took him hostage. Owens broke free and called for help; Giniewicz confronted the suspects outside. In the ensuing gunfight Giniewicz was shot and left paralyzed from the chest down. He returned fire but the assailants escaped.

Giniewicz suffered ongoing medical complications from his 1985 wounds and died on December 7, 2011, at age 58, of causes related to those injuries. He had served three years with the Signal Hill Police Department after seven years with the Massachusetts Department of Correction. The three suspects were identified, arrested and later convicted on charges including attempted murder and robbery; one offender was paroled in 2003. Giniewicz is survived by a son, two stepchildren, his mother and six sisters and is remembered on the California Peace Officers’ Memorial.

If anyone knew Officer Giniewicz, his family, or has information about the 1985 attack, please share what can help honor his memory.