Marysville Police Officer J. Martinez lays a red rose for Officer Osmar Rodarte during the Regional Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony on May 13, at the Yuba City Police Department, honoring a life and a sacrifice that remain deeply felt.

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - Marysville Police Officer Osmar Rodarte is among the 363 fallen law enforcement officers whose names were added this year to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., including 109 officers killed in the line of duty in 2025.

Rodarte’s name was also read May 13 during the Regional Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony in Yuba City.

Rodarte was shot and killed on March 26, 2025, while serving a search warrant at Kestrel Court in Olivehurst as part of a multi‑county operation targeting a transnational drug‑trafficking ring. He was struck during an exchange of gunfire, transported to a hospital and later died from his injuries. The suspect, a convicted felon, was also killed at the scene.

Yuba City Police Chief Jim Runyen speaks during the Regional Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony on May 13, at the Yuba City Police Department, reflecting on how the region comes together whenever a law enforcement officer dies in the line of duty.

“The impact in our local area was profound,” said Yuba City Police Chief Jim Runyen, who officiated the ceremony. “Through difficult circumstances, the Yuba-Sutter area came together to grieve and be there for one another as we lay one of our own to rest, who paid the ultimate sacrifice serving his community.”

The ceremony opened with the national anthem performed by Riley Cornwell and Maureen Sekamanya, followed by an invocation from Yuba City Police Chaplain Ron Fortenberry. The 2025 Roll Call of Fallen Peace Officers, read by Marysville Police Chief Vance Nabeta, included officers from Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Baldwin Park, Los Angeles and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The perpetual roll call, read by Yuba County Sheriff Wendell Anderson, reflected how loss has shaped law enforcement in this region for more than a century. Marysville has recorded five duty‑related deaths since 1901, beginning with Officer Butch Dobler and continuing through Officer Osmar Rodarte. Yuba County’s fallen, including Deputy Eugene Reardon, Deputy Donald Brown and Deputy Brian Meilbeck, represent decades of service cut short. Sutter County’s history carries its own weight, including Sheriff Alva Webb Kimerer, who died in 1946 while returning from an investigation, along with Undersheriff Charles E. Blackburn and Deputy John L. Talley, both lost in 1955.As each name was read, a rose was placed on a table where a photograph of Rodarte stood among the memorial displays.

Maureen Sekamanya and Riley Cornwell sing the national anthem during the Regional Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony on May 13, at the Yuba City Police Department, with a table nearby displaying a folded American flag, flowers and a photograph of Officer Osmar Rodarte.

The program included wreath presentations, a rifle volley by the regional honor guard and Taps, performed by Yuba City Police Detective Chad Cornwell, followed by “Amazing Grace.”

According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial, 24,775 names are now engraved on the monument, including the 363 added this year.

On May 4, California held its annual Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony at the State Capitol to honor officers, including Rodarte, who died in the line of duty. State and local law enforcement officers, surviving families and community members took part in a Walk of Honor from the west steps of the Capitol to the memorial monument, where the names of newly enrolled officers were formally added and their sacrifice honored.