To San Bernardino County sheriff’s Deputy Lawrence “Larry” Falce’s sister, it was unfathomable that her brother would have engaged in a confrontation that would cost him his life.

But after getting in a car crash in San Bernardino while off duty on New Year’s Eve morning, authorities say, the other driver assaulted Falce, causing injuries that killed him two days later.

A suspect has been taken into custody, but no further information about him — including his name — has been released; sheriff’s officials cited the ongoing investigation.

Falce, 70, had worked for the Sheriff’s Department for 36 years, and in patrol out of the Central Station in his hometown of San Bernardino for the past 32 years, sheriff’s Lt. Sarkis Ohannessian said.

“Larry loved being on the street in the patrol car helping people where he resides,” Ohannessian said.

Falce was pronounced dead at 8:11 p.m. Tuesday at Loma Linda University Medical Center. The sheriff’s honor guard, which had begun preparing for that outcome around midday Tuesday, escorted his body late Tuesday to the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office, where an autopsy will be performed. Dozens of law enforcement officers from around Southern California joined the procession.

A collision, an assault

About 10:50 a.m. Sunday, Falce collided with a vehicle at University Avenue at Kendall Drive, and both drivers stopped and got out. The other driver then punched Falce, causing severe injuries, authorities said.

“I guarantee you my brother got out the car apologizing,” Falce’s sister, Marjorie Falce-Jorgensen, said Tuesday night at the Coroner’s Office.

Falce-Jorgensen said she heard the collision happened when her brother swerved to avoid hitting a dog. Police haven’t said anything about what led to the collision.

“There wasn’t a stray dog or a stray cat or a stray anything he didn’t try to rescue,” she said.

On Tuesday, San Bernardino police were at the collision scene interviewing people in nearby businesses.

Investigators urgently want to talk with anyone who witnessed the altercation, as well as anyone who spoke with officers at the scene of the collision. Witnesses were asked to, as soon as possible, call Detective J. Casto at 909-384-5747 or Sgt. Mahan at 909-388-4955.

Love for community

Falce-Jorgensen said her brother never fired his gun once in his career.

“In this day and age when officers are getting a bad rap — that’s not Larry,” she said.

Falce never wanted any accolades, she said. Once, when Falce was going to be presented an award for saving a life, “His girlfriend and I had to drag him kicking and screaming” to the ceremony.

Falce once used “kicking and screaming” to describe what it would take to get him to retire.

“He loved what he did. He loved serving the community,” Falce-Jorgensen said.

Ohannessian said there is no mandatory retirement age in the department — deputies can serve as long as they are able.

A lifetime of service

Falce-Jorgensen said her brother attended Aquinas High in San Bernardino, and laughed at the memory of seeing him in a posed photo published with a story about the football team in the Sun newspaper.

Falce served in the Army before joining the Sheriff’s Department in 1981 in his mid-30s, Ohannessian said. He worked at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore in 1982 and then for two years at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, Ohannessian said.

In 1985, Falce was moved to the Central Station and never left.

“He was a big heart of a man,” Ohannessian said. “He loved his community, he loved San Bernardino. He wanted to work in San Bernardino only. He was a very active deputy. He was investigating crimes and arresting people. He never had a slow day in his life.”

Even in his 60s, Falce worked on the Sheriff’s Department’s search and rescue team, going on long hikes in the mountains.

“The younger deputies couldn’t keep up with him,” said Deputy William Champin, who worked with Falce for about 14 years at the Central Station and came to the Coroner’s Office to pay his respects Tuesday night.

Champin said Falce was known for his low, calm voice and never getting excited when talking on the police radio.

He said he asked Falce every year for the past seven or eight years when he planned to retire.

“It was always next year. … He loved it. That was his life — this department,” Champin said.

Staff writer Beatriz E. Valenzuela contributed to this report.