Officer Arceo was shot and killed as he and another officer responded to a silent alarm at a pawn shop just a half a block from the Baldwin Park Police Station.
UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL WED JUL 10, 1974
Tuesday was supposed to be a special day for El Monte policeman Manuel Arceo, 31. It was his day off, and Tuesday night the City Council was going to present him with a commendation for heroism for rescuing a blind couple from a burning home in April. The same spirit that won him that commendation cancelled the ceremony.
Arceo was killed during the day, because he volunteered to help in a gunbattle in another city, on his day off, to rescue hostages held in a pawn shop by a youth who wanted "to kill cops."
He became the first El Monte officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Arceo was standing in a nearby doorway as J. Michael Barola, 22, burst out of the pawnshop in Baldwin Park, firing a rifle at besieging police.
Barola, who had earlier wounded another policeman and a woman bystander, killed Arceo, and then died in a hail of bullets from other officers.
A hostage remaining in the store after the gunman died, talking to a UPI reporter by telephone, said he was afraid to come out for fear police would mistake him for an accomplice and shoot him too. UPI telephoned police and the man emerged safely.
The incident began when Barola entered the Buy Back Store and Pawn Shop, grabbed a machete and threatened the owner, Yolanda Cummings, 58, demanding guns.
She said she offered to give him money but he did not want it, "he just wanted guns to kill cops." She gave him a rifle, two shotguns and several pistols.
PROGRESS BULLETIN THU, AUG 22, 1974
The mother and sister of an El Monte police officer, who was shot to death last month during a shootout, were robbed of $190 recently while visiting the officer's grave.
Trinidad Arceo and her daughter, Gloria Sarver, had gone to the gravesite of Manuel Arceo, and upon returning to their car, found a man going through their purses. The suspect escaped.
UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL WED JUL 10, 1974
Tuesday was supposed to be a special day for El Monte policeman Manuel Arceo, 31. It was his day off, and Tuesday night the City Council was going to present him with a commendation for heroism for rescuing a blind couple from a burning home in April. The same spirit that won him that commendation cancelled the ceremony.
Arceo was killed during the day, because he volunteered to help in a gunbattle in another city, on his day off, to rescue hostages held in a pawn shop by a youth who wanted "to kill cops."
He became the first El Monte officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Arceo was standing in a nearby doorway as J. Michael Barola, 22, burst out of the pawnshop in Baldwin Park, firing a rifle at besieging police.
Barola, who had earlier wounded another policeman and a woman bystander, killed Arceo, and then died in a hail of bullets from other officers.
A hostage remaining in the store after the gunman died, talking to a UPI reporter by telephone, said he was afraid to come out for fear police would mistake him for an accomplice and shoot him too. UPI telephoned police and the man emerged safely.
The incident began when Barola entered the Buy Back Store and Pawn Shop, grabbed a machete and threatened the owner, Yolanda Cummings, 58, demanding guns.
She said she offered to give him money but he did not want it, "he just wanted guns to kill cops." She gave him a rifle, two shotguns and several pistols.
PROGRESS BULLETIN THU, AUG 22, 1974
The mother and sister of an El Monte police officer, who was shot to death last month during a shootout, were robbed of $190 recently while visiting the officer's grave.
Trinidad Arceo and her daughter, Gloria Sarver, had gone to the gravesite of Manuel Arceo, and upon returning to their car, found a man going through their purses. The suspect escaped.
Officer Arceo was shot and killed as he and another officer responded to a silent alarm at a pawn shop just a half a block from the Baldwin Park Police Station.
UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL WED JUL 10, 1974
Tuesday was supposed to be a special day for El Monte policeman Manuel Arceo, 31. It was his day off, and Tuesday night the City Council was going to present him with a commendation for heroism for rescuing a blind couple from a burning home in April. The same spirit that won him that commendation cancelled the ceremony.
Arceo was killed during the day, because he volunteered to help in a gunbattle in another city, on his day off, to rescue hostages held in a pawn shop by a youth who wanted "to kill cops."
He became the first El Monte officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Arceo was standing in a nearby doorway as J. Michael Barola, 22, burst out of the pawnshop in Baldwin Park, firing a rifle at besieging police.
Barola, who had earlier wounded another policeman and a woman bystander, killed Arceo, and then died in a hail of bullets from other officers.
A hostage remaining in the store after the gunman died, talking to a UPI reporter by telephone, said he was afraid to come out for fear police would mistake him for an accomplice and shoot him too. UPI telephoned police and the man emerged safely.
The incident began when Barola entered the Buy Back Store and Pawn Shop, grabbed a machete and threatened the owner, Yolanda Cummings, 58, demanding guns.
She said she offered to give him money but he did not want it, "he just wanted guns to kill cops." She gave him a rifle, two shotguns and several pistols.
PROGRESS BULLETIN THU, AUG 22, 1974
The mother and sister of an El Monte police officer, who was shot to death last month during a shootout, were robbed of $190 recently while visiting the officer's grave.
Trinidad Arceo and her daughter, Gloria Sarver, had gone to the gravesite of Manuel Arceo, and upon returning to their car, found a man going through their purses. The suspect escaped.
UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL WED JUL 10, 1974
Tuesday was supposed to be a special day for El Monte policeman Manuel Arceo, 31. It was his day off, and Tuesday night the City Council was going to present him with a commendation for heroism for rescuing a blind couple from a burning home in April. The same spirit that won him that commendation cancelled the ceremony.
Arceo was killed during the day, because he volunteered to help in a gunbattle in another city, on his day off, to rescue hostages held in a pawn shop by a youth who wanted "to kill cops."
He became the first El Monte officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Arceo was standing in a nearby doorway as J. Michael Barola, 22, burst out of the pawnshop in Baldwin Park, firing a rifle at besieging police.
Barola, who had earlier wounded another policeman and a woman bystander, killed Arceo, and then died in a hail of bullets from other officers.
A hostage remaining in the store after the gunman died, talking to a UPI reporter by telephone, said he was afraid to come out for fear police would mistake him for an accomplice and shoot him too. UPI telephoned police and the man emerged safely.
The incident began when Barola entered the Buy Back Store and Pawn Shop, grabbed a machete and threatened the owner, Yolanda Cummings, 58, demanding guns.
She said she offered to give him money but he did not want it, "he just wanted guns to kill cops." She gave him a rifle, two shotguns and several pistols.
PROGRESS BULLETIN THU, AUG 22, 1974
The mother and sister of an El Monte police officer, who was shot to death last month during a shootout, were robbed of $190 recently while visiting the officer's grave.
Trinidad Arceo and her daughter, Gloria Sarver, had gone to the gravesite of Manuel Arceo, and upon returning to their car, found a man going through their purses. The suspect escaped.
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