Family of injured Lakewood deputy struck by suspected DUI driver hopeful for her recovery

The Lakewood Sheriff’s deputy who was seriously injured last month — when she was struck by a suspected DUI driver during a foot pursuit — a few weeks later was still in critical condition but showing signs of improvement, officials and her family said Wednesday.

Deputy Dakota Palanca, 25, is a whip-smart person who since childhood “wasn’t raised, but trained” in a family of law enforcement, her stepfather Rick Hayden said at a fundraiser for the deputy.

“That’s our family,” said Hayden, a recently retired Azusa police lieutenant. “As soon as she gets going, we’re going to train her up and get her back to the Lakewood station so she can continue defending the public.”

Hundreds of law enforcement officials came to the Wednesday fundraiser at the Sheriff’s Department’s training center in Whittier to support Palanca. Many of them wore shirts that said “#DakotaStrong” with a silhouette of a horse, which she owns several of.

Palanca was responding to a call of a man acting erratically in Paramount on the evening of Nov. 25, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The man started punching Palanca through her vehicle’s window and shortly after took off toward the intersection of Alondra Boulevard and Downey Avenue, officials said.

Palanca then got out of her vehicle and chased the man on foot and, as she was crossing the intersection, an SUV driven by a suspected drunken driver slammed into the deputy, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he was impressed with how quickly Palanca reacted in the pursuit.

The deputy of five years sustained major injuries from the crash, including brain damage, Villanueva said. She was initially put into a medically-induced coma after the incident and as of Wednesday was on life support at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, he said.

“She’s a long way to recovery,” Villanueva said, “but she’s on the right track.”

Palanca has made gradual improvements since the crash and the family is trying to stay positive, according to Hayden.

“Every time she moves her finger or her thumb,” he said, “or opens her eyes a little more, you see little things — it takes those draining, bad emotions away.”

Hayden said Palanca has always excelled in her academics and career.

In her early childhood years, Palanca lived in Chino and was later raised in Eastvale, where she graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Hayden said. He recalled when his stepdaughter joined the mock trial team, where she was a top person in the team as a senior.

“She gave this six-minute closing argument on a homicide case and she didn’t use the podium, she didn’t use anything because she had everything memorized,” Hayden recalled. “My wife and I looked at each other and said ‘Who is that?’ We thought she was going to be an attorney.”

But after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Palanca told Hayden and her mother, a recently retired corporal of the West Covina Police Department, that she also wanted to be an officer.

By 23, Palanca had her degree, was a second lieutenant in the Army National Guard and a sheriff’s deputy.

“She’s just never disappointed us,” Hayden said.

After hearing news of the deputy’s injuries, a woman whose father had an interaction with Palanca sent a letter to her family. In July, her father recently got out of jail and met Palanaca as she was patrolling a nearby park; she treated him like a person, and not an ex-felon or druggie, the letter read.

“Because of you, I feel my dad is staying sober,” it read.

Hayden held the letter, proudly, as he talked to reporters.

On her days off, Palanca would take care of the several horses she owns, Deputy Morgan Arteaga said. A majority of funds raised will go toward taking care of her beloved animals, as she and her family are in the hospital, she said.

Meanwhile, Arteaga said deputies who work with Palanca are still shaken but have come together. Deputies will bring food to the family, stay by Palanca’s bedside so her family can take a quick break for a shower and also keep guard at her room, so no unwanted visitors try to enter, she said.

“We’re just trying to make as easy on the family as it can,” Arteaga said. “Anything that they need, we’ll take care of it.”

The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs will continue to raised funds for Palanca at its website, www.alads.org.