Friends, Family And Residents Of Prescott Valley Said Goodbye To Fallen YCSO Sergeant Rick Lopez Wednesday

Many friends, family and residents said goodbye to a fallen member of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday in Prescott Valley. Yavapai County Sheriff’s David Rhodes was one of the speakers at yesterday’s memorial service for fallen Sergeant Rick Lopez at the Findlay Toyota Center. He told the gathers that Lopez was “a hero, but not in the way that you see, not in the way you look for it on television, not like you see in the movies. He was somebody’s hero every day.” Lopez was fatally shot, while on duty, in Cordes Lakes last Tuesday and died at a Phoenix hospital later that day. Sheriff Rhodes says the community lost a good man and he told a story about the lengths Lopez would go to help someone out. “there was a mom with two kids in Chino Valley that he came upon in a call for service,” Rhodes says. He adds, “they were from Tuba City and their car was broke down and didn’t have a ride.” The sheriff said Lopez went home and got his personal car and “drove them all the way home to Tuba City.” Lopez is the 12th fallen deputy in the history of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and the first in 49 years. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, his parents and his brother.