Pubdate: Sat, 20 Oct 2007
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Author: Joe Nelson, Staff Writer

SLAIN OFFICER WAS FRIEND, FAMILY MAN

BEAUMONT - Priscilla and Ed Khanoyan will never again  look out their 
window and see Sergio Carrera Jr.  lovingly pull his young son and daughter 
up and down  the street in a little red wagon.

Carrera's friend and neighbor Paul Castro will never be  able to stand 
outside with his friend and chat about  their children and share in the joy 
of watching them  grow.

Those moments will only be memories for the Khanoyans  and Castro. They 
talked on Thursday about their friend  Carrera, a 4-year veteran of the 
Rialto Police  Department and a member of its SWAT team. Carrera was  shot 
in the head during the service of a search warrant at a residence in Rialto 
where drug dealing was  suspected. He was flown to Arrowhead Regional 
Medical  Center in Colton, where he died during surgery.

It was unclear who shot Carrera, but police arrested  32-year-old Jaranard 
Thomas on suspicion of murdering a  police officer. He tried to flee when 
officers busted  down his door and a struggle ensued before the  shooting.

"We're going to miss him very much. He's going to leave  a void in a lot of 
people's lives," said Ed Khanoyan  Friday at his home.

A Beaumont police officer sat in his patrol car parked  across the street 
from the

Carrera home on Friday, keeping news media at bay.  Officers had been 
working in rotations guarding the  home since Thursday, the officer said, 
declining to  give his name.

Family and friends pulled up in cars throughout the day  and filed into the 
home.

Like most of the residents in this tight-knit  neighborhood of tract homes 
built about three years  ago, the Khanoyans moved into their home about the 
same  time as the Carreras. Many of the residents got to know  one another, 
and Carrera was one of the more  gregarious, introducing himself to his 
neighbors and  becoming active in the homeowner's association.

He helped Ed Khanoyan haul a 60-inch television into  his home, not 
expecting anything in return. Priscilla  made him a batch of oatmeal raisin 
cookies anyway.

"He didn't like putting people out. His parents brought  him up right - to 
have manners," Priscilla Khanoyan  said.

They learned of Carrera's death through another  neighbor Thursday 
afternoon and were shocked by the  news.

"One moment you're here, and the next moment it's "  said Ed Khanoyan, 
pausing. "We have to make every  moment count. You never know how many 
moments you have  left."

Carrera doted on his 1-year-old daughter Izabella and  2-year-old son 
Sergio III, and was seldom seen without  them in his arms or at his side, 
neighbors said.

"He was really family-oriented," said Castro, 43, who  lived across the 
street from Carrera and his wife,  Louise. "Whenever we went over there, he 
always had his  son in his arms, and since his daughter came along,  it's 
been the same."

Like Castro, Carrera often kept his garage door open  while home, and the 
two would often see each other  outside and get together to chat. They hit 
it off. Both  had family members who worked for the California  Highway 
Patrol, Castro said.

Carrera kept a vigorous workout schedule to stay in  shape for work, and 
aspired to bigger and better  things, Castro said.

One of the things Castro remembers Carrera getting  excited about was 
applying for the SWAT team.

"I remember him telling me when he first applied to  SWAT, and how excited 
he was when he got it," Castro  said. "He was the type of guy who always 
seemed to  strive for something better. He always took it to the  next step."

Funeral services are pending.

"It's really sad that a person like that, that  something like that would 
happen to him," Castro said.
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