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A 17-year veteran of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department died in a hospital after a high-speed pursuit ended in gunfire on Monday.
Sgt. Dominic Vaca, 43, of the Morongo Basin Station was shot after an attempted traffic stop in Yucca Valley, a desert community outside Joshua Tree National Park.
“The gunshot wound he sustained earlier today was too severe for him to overcome,” Sheriff John McMahon said in a
video posted just before midnight Monday.
The pursuit began when deputies spotted a man riding a motorcycle with no license plate near Paxton Road and Imperial Drive just after 12:30 p.m., officials said. The deputies tried to stop the motorcyclist, but he fled, so they started chasing him.