Napa County Sheriff's Department, California
End of Watch: Sunday, May 25, 1980
Age: 55
Tour of Duty: 5 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Drowned
Date of Incident: May 25, 1980
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Reserve Deputy Healy drowned while attempting to recover the body of another drowning victim from Lake Berryessa.
Deputy Healy and another member of the Napa County Sheriff's Department's dive team had located the sunken boat, attached a line to it, and surfaced to obtain new air tanks. Deputy Healy and another deputy then began to follow the line to the boat. At 96 feet, Deputy Healy met the second deputy and indicated everything was okay, but shortly thereafter, indicated he needed to surface.
As both deputies began to surface, Deputy Healy indicated he was out of air. The other deputy attempted to give Deputy Healy his regulator, but as Deputy Healy attempted to swim to it, he accidentally knocked off the mask of the other diver. The other diver could no longer see and was unable to get the regulator to Deputy Healy. The deputy surfaced and immediately reported that Deputy Healy was in trouble.
Another diver immediately suited up and entered the lake. He located Deputy Healy's body approximately 60 feet down. The deputies in the boat were able to pull Deputy Healy to the surface using his safety line and immediately started CPR. He was flown to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Deputy Healy was a United States Navy WWII veteran and had served with the Napa County Sheriff's Department for five years. He was survived by his wife, brother, and sister.