(L.A.) Michael Arruda, 35, Died in a Hospital

Case Number: 2004-04612

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 35-year-old Caucasian male that occurred at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center.

The coroner’s office identified the man as Michael Arruda.

Manner of Death: Homicide

Cause of Death: Gunshot Wound of Neck

RIP MICHAEL ARRUDA (July 21, 1968 – June 15, 2004)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Tuesday at 6:43 p.m.

The decedent was a sheriff’s deputy who was a victim of friendly fire.

He was shot in the neck after he and other deputies responded to a call about “a man wiht a gun” in Room 219 of a Motel 6 in Hacienda Heights on June 9, 2004.

When deputies arrived, a man identified as 51-year-old Paul Kenneth Smith fired at them from what appeared to be a semiautomatic pistol, but which was actually a pellet gun.

Deputies heard popping noises and saw what appeared to be smoke coming from the gun barrel, then fired about 10 times, killing Smith.

Investigators believe Arruda inadvertently stepped into his fellow deputies’ line of fire while trying to avoid a shot fired from Smith’s weapon. He was removed from life support at the hospital six days later.

In July 2025, the Pomona (60) Freeway/Seventh Avenue interchange in Hacienda Heights
was dedicated as the “Deputy Michael Richard Arruda Memorial Interchange.” The ceremony was on the date of what would have been Arruda’s 57th birthday.