EL PASO, Texas — Dallas Police officer and El Paso native Jacob Arellano was laid to rest in his hometown Friday nine days after being struck and killed by a wrong-way driver while on his way to work.
After public services this past Wednesday in Richardson, a private family service was held this morning at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Socorro. Arellano -- with family, friends, and Dallas Police officers, including Chief Eddie Garcia, in attendance -- was buried early Friday afternoon at Mount Carmel Cemetery in El Paso.
Arellano, 25, died after a crash with a wrong-way driver on Spur 408 where he was driving to work at the Northwest Patrol Division late Tuesday night Oct. 12th.
Mayra Rebollar Pineda, 31, has been booked on a charge of intoxication manslaughter with bail set at $500,000. An arrest affidavit shows that she registered a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit. WFAA confirmed that, as of Friday, she is still in the hospital with severe injuries including a fractured pelvis but will be sent next to the Dallas County Jail.
Police have said that Rebollar-Pineda was driving south in the northbound lanes when she collided into Arellano head-on. Police said the driver hit the front left side of the officer's SUV, forcing it to go into the right lane where it was struck by a tractor-trailer. The SUV rolled several times before stopping on the right shoulder of Spur 408.
"Jacob was always the one who friends could lean on. Helping others came naturally," Garcia said at Wednesday's services in Richardson. "His family was everything. And he knew the importance that there was nothing like home."
"And that's a hero right there," Mayor Eric Johnson said at the same service. "And that's a hero's family right there on that front row."
The officer leaves behind a young son, a fiancée, and his twin brother Josh, also a Dallas Police officer.
"I just pray that the Lord keeps healing our hearts to overcome this time," Arellano's brother said during the service.
A time for grief. A time to honor a hero.
The pain of seeking answers and justice -- that will wait for another difficult day.