LOS ANGELES -- A reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department died Friday during a mountain bike race at the World Police and Fire Games, authorities said.
Jacob Castroll, 67, a reserve at the Malibu/Lost Hills station since July 2010, was found unresponsive on the Castaic bike course and taken to a Valencia hospital, where he died about 11:15 a.m., authorities said.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office is investigating the cause of death, said sheriff’s Sgt. Tui Wright of the Lost Hills station.
“We’re terribly floored and upset at the loss,” Wright said.
Castroll, a Thousand Oaks resident, owned an insurance agency in Studio City, but he had a passion for reserve work, which pays $1 a year, Wright said.
He volunteered on many sheriff’s units, including weapons training, custody and DUI checkpoints. An amateur radio operator, he also was part of the sheriff’s disaster communications team, Wright said.
An avid cyclist, Castroll took part in the Police Unity Tour, a national ride from the East Coast to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Sheriff’s Department’s Memorial Torch Relay Run, which ends at the Peace Officers’ Memorial in Whittier.
“He was a pleasure to work with and close to everybody,” Wright said.
Castroll is survived by his wife, Rody, and children Victor, Lea and Rica, authorities said.
Copyright 2017 the Los Angeles Times
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