Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, California
End of Watch: Sunday, March 19, 1978
Age: 50
Tour of Duty: 21 years
Badge Number: 1145
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: March 19, 1978
Weapon Used: Officer's handgun
Suspect Info: Sentenced to 2 1/2 years
Deputy Sheriff Arthur Pelino was shot and killed by a mentally deranged suspect.
Deputy Pelino was the Resident Deputy in the rural town of Gorman. He had arrested a mentally deranged man that was known to have been violent but canceled deputies who were responding to back him up after stating he had the situation under control. Deputy Pelino took the suspect back to his office to start the booking process.
During the booking process, the suspect started to struggle and was able to get Deputy Pelino's service weapon. The man then shot and killed Deputy Pelino and sat down in the office.
Two of Deputy Pelino's children found him and the suspect and ran to get help. Deputy Pelino's wife was able to get the suspect into a cell and call for assistance.
Deputy Pelino had served with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 21 years. He was survived by his wife, three sons, and three daughters.