Darrell Lunsford

Darrell Edward Lunsford, Sr. (October 20, 1943 - January 23, 1991) was a police constable with the Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Office in Texas. On January 23, 1991, Lunsford pulled over a vehicle with three men inside. The three men were illegally transporting the drug marijuana. Lunsford grew suspicious of the suspects and requested to see what was inside the trunk of the vehicle. When Lunsford saw the marijuana, the suspects attacked Lunsford, then shot and killed him with his own service weapon. They then drove off, leaving Lunsford and his patrol car behind. The entire incident was videotaped on a dashboard camera in Constable Lunford's cruiser. The three suspects were found at a later date and were then arrested. It was because of the video camera in the cruiser that the police were able to arrest the three killers, who were later imprisoned.
Murder
On Wednesday, January 23, 1991 at approximately 01:20 a.m., Lunsford pulled over a suspicious vehicle, a white 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Maine license plates. He pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and questioned the driver. He asked the driver whether he had any ID on him, to which the driver replied no. The driver claimed that he had a driving license but did not have it on him. He also said that he was helping his brother drive the car (one of two passenger's in the vehicle). At 01:27 a.m., Lunsford asked to look in the trunk of the vehicle and the three suspects reluctantly agreed. When they opened the trunk, Lunsford could smell the marijuana. At 01:28 a.m., two of the three suspects were out of the vehicle speaking with Lunsford. Suddenly, one suspect grabbed Lunsford by his legs while the other grabbed him from behind. They forced him down onto the ground by the side of the car and the third suspect got out to assist his two partners in crime. They then carried out a 'prison takedown' on Lunsford and continued to beat and attack him with their bare hands and feet while Lunsford was pinned down on the ground. They rolled him over onto his stomach, kicked him in the hip three times and then fired a single shot into his stomach killing him. The gun that the suspects used for the murder was Lunsford's own service weapon. The three suspects then made a quick getaway in their vehicle, leaving behind the dead body of Lunsford and his police cruiser.
Aftermath
The three suspects abandoned their vehicle less than a mile from the town of Garrison. Their vehicle was found later in the day. Lunsford was found by his colleague, Chief Deputy Stanaland, at around 02:00 a.m.. The Chief immediately rewound the video in Lunsford's cruiser and made a copy of it. Throughout the morning, the police analysed this videotape and were able to identify the three killers. One of the three suspects was found later in the day when a highway patrolman spotted him walking near the edge of a wooded area. He was arrested and charged with murder. Another suspect in the shooting was captured and arrested two days later, the third suspect was captured the day after. All three suspects were then tried and convicted with Constable Lunsford's murder. The actual shooter who had fired the gun and murdered Lunsford was identified as, Baldemar Sambrano Villarreal. He was spared the death penalty but was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His younger half brother, Reynaldo Sambrano Villarreal, was sentenced to forty years in prison for his role in the murder. The third suspect, Jesus Zambrano, pleaded guilty to his role in the murder and received a thirty year prison sentence.
The entire incident was captured by the dashboard camera in Lunsford's cruiser. This videotape enabled the police to arrest the three killers. The video is now used for the training of new officers. The videotape teaches them what to do if they ever get into a difficult situation like this. Constable Lunsford is survived by his wife and two children.
Effects of the video
Trooper Andy Lopez Jr. was a police officer from Refugio, Texas. He watched the video of Lunsford's murder and analysed every detail of it. Just 8 months after Lunsford's murder, on September 21, 1991, a Saturday night, Lopez pulled over a suspicious vehicle along U.S Highway 77 in Refugio, Texas. Similarly to Lunsford's killers, there were three male suspects and they were also transporting the illegal drug, marijuana. First of all Lopez asked to look in the trunk of the vehicle. The three suspects agreed and then got out of the vehicle and opened the trunk. As soon as they opened the trunk Lopez could immediately smell the scent of marijuana. Suddenly one of the suspects drew a gun and attempted to kill Lopez. Lopez however saw this move and quickly pushed the suspect away as he drew his own weapon from its holster. Lopez then ran away from the three suspects and took aim with his own gun. He fired several shots at the armed suspect while running away. The armed suspect was immediately hit and he fell to the floor straight away, while the other two suspects ran off and escaped into the night. The armed suspect however was merely wounded, and began returning fire at Lopez. Lopez returned to the suspects vehicle and used it for cover as the shootout continued between him and the gunman. He then took cover in the darkness before returning back to his own cruiser. Another trooper then responded to his call for backup, who was just south of Lopez's current position. While this was happening, Lopez continued to shoot it out with the armed suspect, who had now taken cover behind Lopez's police cruiser. The shootout eventually ended after Lopez hit the suspect multiple times. After the shootout ended, Lopez was not severely injured and had received only one graze from a bullet. The armed suspect wasn't as lucky, and died from his gunshot wounds before help arrived. Later, a manhunt ensued for the other two suspects. It lasted all through the night and into the next day, but eventually police found the two remaining suspects hiding in the woods and arrested them both without incident. After the incident, Lopez told authorities that he believed the video of Lunsford's murder is what had saved his life that night. The video had helped him deal with the three suspects and he had learnt not to make the same mistakes that Lunsford had made eight months earlier.

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