Michael Arthur Coleman was a 30-year-old deputy with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department who died on March 25, 1982, during a Metro Narcotics Task Force search warrant at the home of Renoldo Black and Karen Frances Allen. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital but died shortly after arrival.

Coleman’s death was followed minutes later by the death of his father, Floyd Woniger Coleman, an auxiliary sheriff’s deputy, who suffered a fatal heart attack upon learning his son had been shot. Karen Frances Allen was arrested, convicted of Coleman’s murder, and sentenced to life in prison. Renoldo Black was arrested on charges of possessing cocaine, placidly, and amphetamines in quantities sufficient for sale.

The double loss affected the department and community deeply. Does anyone have memories of Deputy Coleman or information about the March 25, 1982 operation?