On July 13, 1978, Deputy James E. Machado, 30, was shot and killed in Auburn, California, after an escaped mental patient seized his service weapon during a struggle at Highway 49 and Elm Avenue. The suspect was later spotted walking along Interstate 80; when confronted by California Highway Patrol officers and an Auburn Police sergeant he attempted to use Deputy Machado’s weapon against them and was killed by several shotgun rounds fired by the officers.

Deputy Machado had served four years with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and left behind his wife, Nancy, and three young children: Jim, Joy, and Jeanne. The intersection where he was killed was later dedicated in his honor, and he was posthumously awarded the Placer County Sheriff’s Office Purple Heart in 2008.