California Deputy Killed in Crash Responding to Call

March 16, 2018
Marin County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Zirkle was killed responding to an emergency call Thursday.

NOVATO, California -- A Marin County deputy sheriff was killed responding to an emergency call early Thursday after his vehicle hit a tree along Highway 1 north of Point Reyes Station.

The deputy was identified as Ryan Zirkle, 24, of Petaluma. He was a 2011 graduate of San Marin High School in Novato, where he was a standout athlete in football, basketball and baseball.

Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle made the announcement later in the day with teary-eyed law enforcement officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the back of the room.

“As you can imagine, today is a sad and difficult day not only for Ryan Zirkle’s family but the men and women of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office,” Doyle said.

Zirkle had been a deputy for 2 and a half years. He is survived by his mother and father, two older brothers and a fiance with whom he had recently purchased a house in Petaluma.

According to a preliminary investigation by the California Highway Patrol, Zirkle lost control of his car as it entered a left curve in the road on Highway 1 north of Point Reyes Station at about midnight. The car, which was traveling south, careened off the right side of the road.

Doyle said it was not raining at the time but the road was wet. He said Zirkle was responding to a call in which someone called 911 and hung up without saying what the problem was. Authorities were able to pinpoint where the call came from.

No reason for the call has been identified.

Doyle said not long after that call another 911 caller reported hearing the sound of a traffic accident.

Doyle said that since the sheriff’s communications center hadn’t heard from Zirkle in several minutes, his partner was dispatched to check on the crash. The partner was the first person to reach the crash scene.

County firefighters responded and arrived soon after with several deputy sheriffs, Doyle said. It took 35 minutes to get Zirkle out of the car.

Zirkle was then flown by helicopter ambulance to Petaluma Valley Hospital.

“Deputies, paramedics and doctors did all they could,” Doyle said, “but Ryan didn’t survive.”

Doyle said Zirkle was one of several young deputies who have joined the sheriff’s department recently to replace retirees.

“Ryan was enthusiastic. He wanted to serve the community that he grew up in,” Doyle said. “His friends and beat partners described him as always having a smile on his face, always happy, always very, very positive.”

‘Incredible run’

At San Marin High School, Zirkle was captain of the basketball team and most valuable player on the baseball team in his senior year. The school’s basketball and baseball teams won league titles that year.

“He had an incredible run in athletics in high school,” said Mark Whitburn, Zirkle’s baseball coach at San Marin. “How many kids get to be the starting quarterback for their football team, the point guard for their basketball team and the shortstop for baseball?”

“He had an infectious smile. The team just gravitated toward him,” Whitburn said. “He made everybody better and he made the world just a better place to be in.”

Kevin Goyer was San Marin’s varsity football coach when Zirkle was a sophomore.

“We pulled him up from the junior varsity to the varsity his sophomore year when we were encountering some injuries and he led us to a victory,” Goyer said. “He was a phenomenal young man, a hard worker and conscientious. He got along with everybody.”

Dan Hickey, who was Zirkle’s football coach his junior and senior years, said, “We didn’t win a championship but we did beat Novato for the first time in nine years his senior year. He worked 110 percent in every sport he did.”

Kevin Conklin, the operations manager for the city of Novato’s recreation department, said, “I’ve known Ryan since he was a little kid. He was in our gymnastics program as a boy. He was one of the great guys of all time. This is a terrible tragedy.”

Chris Glennon, a lifelong friend and teammate of Zirkle’s on the championship basketball team, said, “Meeting him in kindergarten and growing up a block away from him is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

“I’m an only child, but he’ll always be the closest thing I have to a brother,” Glennon said. “I would have been lost without him growing up. He’s been my best friend for 20 years, and it’s just not fair this happened to him.”

On Thursday afternoon, a long law enforcement procession escorted a car carrying Zinke’s body down Highway 101 from Sonoma County. The procession went into downtown San Rafael and then to Monte’s Chapel Of The Hills in San Anselmo.

Memorial arrangements are pending.

———

©2018 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.)

Visit The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) at www.marinij.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Sponsored Recommendations

Build Your Real-Time Crime Center

March 19, 2024
A checklist for success

Whitepaper: A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

July 28, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge

A New Paradigm in Digital Investigations

June 6, 2023
Modernize your agency’s approach to get ahead of the digital evidence challenge.

Listen to Real-Time Emergency 911 Calls in the Field

Feb. 8, 2023
Discover advanced technology that allows officers in the field to listen to emergency calls from their vehicles in real time and immediately identify the precise location of the...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Officer, create an account today!