A routine traffic stop in Nogales, Arizona on the evening of January 7, 1991, ended in the death of Sergeant Manuel Hurtado Tapia of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Sergeant Tapia, 41, and a Nogales police officer had stopped a car driven by a man suspected of drug trafficking. When the driver, identified as Noel Gonzales-Bernal of Nogales, Sonora, was asked to open the trunk he fled on foot and officers gave chase.

During the pursuit Gonzales-Bernal turned and fired, fatally wounding Sergeant Tapia. It was later discovered Sergeant Tapia had inadvertently left his own firearm in his vehicle. He was taken to Tucson Medical Center and died in the early hours of January 8, 1991. The driver, Noel Gonzales-Bernal, was shot and killed at the scene by the Nogales police officer who accompanied Sergeant Tapia.

Sergeant Tapia was a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and had served roughly 17 and a half years in law enforcement. Does anyone have more details about the stop, the officers involved, or Tapia’s service in Nogales?