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Sergeant
Steve May
 In the early morning
hours of 7-29-2002, Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputies saw a black GMC pickup that they believed to be suspicious
(the license number came
back to another type of car). The vehicle pulled into the driveway
of a home in southwest Modesto, backed up out of the driveway, rammed the deputies' patrol car and sped off. The
patrol vehicle was damaged and unable to follow.
Sergeant Steve May, a 23 year veteran, was driving his patrol car south on
S. Santa Cruz Avenue at 1:45 a.m. Officers had spotted the suspect vehicle in the downtown area of Modesto going
eastbound on Yosemite and followed it into the airport district. A patrol
officer noticed the vehicle parked on Mono Drive and Santa Rosa. When the
officer turned on Mono Drive, the suspect vehicle sped away eastbound on Mono Drive at estimated speeds of
60-65 miles per hour. The suspect ran two stop signs on Mono Drive, evading
police.
Investigation has revealed that the pickup truck was reported stolen on
7-27-2002. In running the stop sign, the suspect impacted Sgt. May's
patrol car.
After the impact, Sergeant May's patrol car was pushed into a tree in the front yard at
306 S. Santa Cruz, and the suspect vehicle hit the
house at 306 S. Santa Cruz. The suspect was killed instantly. A resident
in the house sustained minor injury.
The sergeant was trapped inside of his car after
it came to rest. Modesto Police, Firefighters and
Stanislaus County Consolidated Fire, were finally able to free Sgt. May
from the vehicle about 40 minutes later using the jaws of life. AMR stood
by, caring for Sgt. May while waiting for him to be freed. Sgt. May was
rushed to
Memorial Medical Center suffering from major injuries including a
fractured skull, fractures to his face and jaw, left clavicle, right
forearm, and left leg.
Steve's Condition
July 29th was the 5th anniversary of Steve's accident.
He has not regained consciousness since the
accident. He is not on any form of
life support other than a feeding tube. He
has a trach just to make it easier to
suction his lungs.
Since the
accident, Steve has been retired medically
from MPD. His badge number, A-21, has
also been
retired and so will never be used again. A motorcycle run, the May Day
Motorcycle run, has been instituted on his
behalf and a PAL basketball clinic has been
named after him (First Annual Steve May
Youth Basketball Camp) for 5th through 8th
grade kids.
Diana, his
wife, still visits Steve and cares for him
every single day. She talks to him and his
eyes follow her around the room.
Diana and the
rest of Steve's family still think that MPD
is the best department in the world. In
spite of the fact that it has been five
years, there are still several employees
that keep in touch and visit Steve on a
regular basis. It means a lot to Diana (and
really, all survivors) to feel that they are
remembered, that the sacrifice made by their
family still means something, to feel that
they are still a part of the law enforcement family.
So
please feel free to drop a line to Diana and
the family. It means so much to them.
Don't forget to tell us where you live!
Or drop a line to Steve. Diana takes
the messages by and reads them to him.
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Gail
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Want to leave a message of support for the family? We'd love to
hear from you! Make sure you tell us your
state/country!
Click
here!
Want to be part of our
tribute to Steve? Come on our May Day 2008 ride! It is a
motorcycle run but all vehicles are welcome! Download the
poster,
registration
and
release of liability here!
Have you seen ribbons around
town in Dallas
Cowboy blue? Ribbons on police cars, trees, doors, and
people? No, Modesto hasn't suddenly been overrun by Dallas
fans. People are just showing their support for the May family by
displaying Steve's favorite color (he is a MAJOR fan). Please join
us by flying a blue ribbon from your vehicle and/or wearing one!
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Modesto, CA 95354