Upon making inquiry as to the ownership of the vehicle, one of the men produced a handgun and began firing at the officers. Heaps returned fire but was felled by a shot which entered an area not protected by the officer's vest. Officer Nelson was also returning fire and was seriously wounded. Deputy Roberts also returned fire in the direction of the suspects. When the shooting was over, Heaps lay mortally wounded and died before reaching the hospital. Two men who had been inside the motorhome died from gunshot wounds when the officers returned fire. Eugene Dale Gonzales, who had been firing at the officers, was later found to have been wanted in the State of California where he had shot and killed a California Highway Patrolman and wounded another. Officer Heaps, who was to have received his promotion to Sergeant in two weeks was awarded his promotion posthumously. Sergeant Heaps and the other two officers were decorated for their actions.
The officer managed to kick his belt off of his legs, got to his feet and returned to his vehicle. With the help of a bystander he got the handcuffs off and located his weapon under a bush. The officer asked the witness which way the suspect went and attempted to overtake him south bound on the freeway. The officer was unsuccessful in his attempt to locate the suspect so he returned to meet detectives who would continue the investigation. During the next several months there were numerous armed robberies involving a suspect with the same physical description. In late September of '81 there were several robberies of stores by one or two male Mexicans of the general description. On October 1st a grocery store was robbed in which shots were fired in the store and at witnesses outside the store. The time was 14:40 hours as the suspect vehicle fled the store. A few miles away C.H .P. officers Johnny Martinez and James Szabo were working in cooperation with each other in attempting to remove a piece of lumber on the westbound San Bernardino freeway. Officer Szabo was attempting to slow westbound traffic by driving his motorcycle in a slowly swerving pattern across all lanes of the freeway while Officer Martinez was positioned further westbound to retrieve the lumber when the traffic break permitted. Officer Szabo felt himself shot three times, once in the neck, shoulder, and back. He fell from his motorcycle, but as he fell he got a description of a car in the area he thought the shots came from. Witnesses later affirmed his description along with a partial plate number. The vehicle then traveled from the outside lane to the inside lane where Officer Martinez was standing in the safety island. As the vehicle approached Officer Martinez he was shot point blank, killing him. The vehicle then sped off at a high rate of speed. On October 5th, just four days later, an officer with the Alhambra Police Department observed a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle parked approximately two hundred yards west of Alhambra city limits. The vehicle had California tags and a grey or grey/black primer coated body. The officer detected the odor of fresh paint and notified detectives who responded to the scene. They concluded it had been recently and hastily painted with primer for the following reasons: a citizen informed police that he had parked his diesel truck behind the car on October 2 in the early morning hours (approximately 12 hours after the shooting) and he heard the engine making noises he believed to be the engine cooling off. Further, the vehicle had been painted in such a way as to cover numerous chrome accessories such as the door locks, the trunk lock, a mirror and decorative strips. None of the locks bore scratches indicating a key had been inserted since the primer coat had been applied. Beneath the primer the vehicle was the color of the vehicle being sought. Witnesses of the shooting were brought to the scene where they identified the vehicle except for the color. There was an apartment complex parking sticker on the rear bumper with an identifying number. Subsequent investigation lead to the identification of a suspect and a motor home. As the case was prepared, arrests were made of one suspect and his wife in L.A. An identification was made of Eugene Dale Gonzales as being involved in several robberies including one in Denver, Colorado. A special "Wanted for Murder" bulletin and teletypes for Gonazales' arrest were sent throughout the West, including Utah. Gonzales, driving his fathers Itasca motorhome came to Utah in about the third week of October 1981. Warrants and teletypes were distributed to Utah's law enforcement agencies but the motorhome was at the 1300 South 300 East location for a couple of months. JANUARY 13, 1982 At 2135 hours the Salt Lake city dispatcher assigns Officer Dennis Nelson a suspicious persons call. On this night a Salt Lake County Sheriff's reserve deputy is riding with Nelson for the first time. Another officer was assigned to back Nelson on the call but Sgt. Ronald Heaps came on the air and said he would back so the original back-up cancelled. Heaps and Nelson had been told by the dispatcher the suspicious person was a male black around a vacant house in the area of 1300 South 300 East, Both officers arrived about the same time but were unable to locate the male black. As they checked out the area on foot they could hear some noise coming from inside an Itaska motorhome parked next to a house. The officers knocked on the door of the motorhome which was opened by two male Hispanics who came outside of the motorhome to talk. I.D. was requested and received from the men. As they were questioned as to the ownership of the motorhome another man appeared in the door with a 9mm automatic and said "The ____ belongs to me" and opened fire on the officers. As the man fired from the doorway Heaps and Nelson drew their weapons and returned fire. Heaps was wearing a vest but unfortunately he was hit in the side under the arm with the bullet exiting the center of his chest under the vest. Nelson sustained two hits, one in the shoulder and one in the upper thigh just below the groin. As Nelson was being shot he and Heaps continued to return fire with both officers striking the suspect. After hitting the ground Nelson began rolling toward the front of the motorhome and continued to fire at the motorhome. Reserve Deputy Roberts had taken up a position at the rear of the motorhome. He fired at the second suspect after he exited the motorhome, he failed to obey the commands to stop where he was after Roberts had verbally identified himself. 9-1 --OFFICER NEEDS HELP Meanwhile Nelson had radioed a 9-1 officer needs help and officers were responding from everywhere. Upon arrival, Roberts, in civilian clothes, raised his arms with his badge in sight for identification. Sgt. Heaps died from the gunshot wound, Officer Nelson recuperated, and Reserve Deputy Roberts was not injured. Sgt. Ronald L. Heaps was born on January 21, 1949 in American Fork, Utah. He joined the Salt Lake City Police Force on August 1st, 1974 and did what he started out to do, become a good "cop." Ron was married to Anita Ruth McDaniels and has four children, Shane, 12, Dustin 8, Travis 5, and Jamie 3. Source: Chief Sam Dawson, Sandy PD
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Sergeant
Ronald L. Heaps