The San Juan Capistrano City Council Aug. 1 approved building a memorial for one of the city’s recently fallen officers, which will be unveiled this fall.
After dying in a car accident this year, Orange County Deputy Brian Haney will be memorialized by the city he served thanks to efforts by his partners at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Chief of Police Services Cpt. Justin Montano, who approached city officials with the idea.
On the morning of Feb 9., Mr. Haney, who was off-duty at the time, lost his life in a car accident in Lake Elsinore, according to the sheriff’s department.
The site for the memorial, located just outside the city’s community center at 25925 Camino del Avion, will include two benches next to a memorial boulder with a plaque honoring the fallen officer, and an adjacent flag pole. Existing benches at the location will be removed, and the surrounding landscape will be redone to create a “tranquil” environment, according to city staff.
The city will fund the $16,000 project, and Brightview Landscaping Services, the company in charge of the city’s landscaping, will be donating their labor.
“I think it’s a great idea to remember Deputy Haney in this way. It’s such a tragedy for the community and for the law enforcement in our community too, and so I fully support this [memorial site] and want it to be really beautiful,” City Councilman John Taylor said during the meeting.
Mr. Haney, who was hired by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in 2016, was a member of the Critical Incident Response Team in San Juan Capistrano. He was also a member of the Air Force Reserve as a senior airman and worked at the Theo Lacy Facility, a jail complex in Orange.
Many in the community expressed shock and sadness at Mr. Haney’s passing.
“Our hearts break with the news of the death of our fallen brother, Deputy Brian Haney,” Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said in a February statement announcing his death. “On behalf of the entire family at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in recognition and honor of Brian.”
Mr. Haney left behind his wife, Leslee, and a one-month-old son, Cole, at the time of his death.
“Our focus will be on Brian’s loved ones who lost a husband, a father, a brother, and a son this morning,” Sheriff Barnes said in the statement. “We are also focused on our department family who are recovering from our loss of a partner.”
Those wishing to support Mr. Haney’s family can do so by donating to the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs Memorial Fund.
