Behind the Badge
Every year he brought flowers, but couldn’t bring himself to explain.
Thinking about the 2007 accident that claimed the life of a teenage boy is tough enough.
Talking about it is nearly impossible.
That is why every year Tustin PD Officer Glenn Hollingshead brings flowers to the family of the 18-year-old who lost control of his pickup truck and crashed into a signal pole on Nov. 8, 2007.
Hollingshead saw it happen.
This year, Hollingshead wanted to explain to the family why he brings flowers and why he often refuses their invitation to stay, talk or have a meal; why his hugs are often quick and his questions few.
He wanted to explain the impact that early morning had, but talking about it is nearly impossible.
So he would write it down instead.
…
Hollingshead calls his graveyard shift on Nov. 7 a terrible night.
It started with a call for a stabbing victim at El Camino Park. The man was bleeding so badly the ground was saturated with blood.
Hollingshead and his partner stopped the bleeding well enough to get the man to the emergency room alive.
The man ended up surviving, and Hollingshead and his partner later would receive the department’s lifesaving award for their actions.
It was a grisly scene, but it still didn’t have the impact his last call of the night would.
After heading to his Tustin home for lunch, Hollingshead was driving eastbound on Irvine Boulevard at about 5 a.m. when he saw a light-colored pickup truck driving toward him on Irvine Boulevard near Robinson Drive.
The truck was moving faster than normal and Hollingshead noticed the headlights didn’t dip as the driver approached the turn.
When people slow their vehicle, which is common when coming up on a turn, the headlights dip, Hollingshead explained.
The truck then disappeared from view.
Hollingshead followed to see the truck had veered from the road and collided into a traffic signal pole.
The scene wasn’t gruesome like the one earlier in the night, but it was worse.
The 18-year-old was encased in the twisted metal of his truck. He was breathing, but not responding.
Hollingshead couldn’t get to the teen to pull him from the wreck. Firefighters cut through steel to pull him out, and Hollingshead reached into the teen’s pocket to try to find some form of identity.
When Hollingshead pulled a Foothill High School identification card from the teen it was like a swift gut check to the father of two.
Hollingshead’s son was a student at the same high school.
Hollingshead heard the teen’s cell phone sounding, alerting to missed calls. He looked at the phone and noticed the caller ID indicated missed calls from “Dad.”
“That night I didn’t just see another crash victim,” Hollingshead said. “I saw a boy just a few years older than my son.”
Hollingshead would later tell the father who desperately was trying to reach his son what happened.
That part was difficult.
The questions the teens parents asked weeks after the crash weren’t any easier.
Did it seem like he was in pain?
“No, it was actually kind of peaceful,” Hollingshead told them.
Do you think he saw it coming?
“No, he didn’t hit his brakes,” he said.
Rollie Guerra had been home with friends playing video games until early in the morning Nov. 8. He told his friends he would drive them home to Lake Forest.
His mother didn’t like her son driving around so early in the morning. It worried her.
Rollie’s family believes he fell asleep on his way home.
“Once that night finally ended, I told my family about my shift,” Hollingshead said. “After that, (my) kids seemed to be much more interested in all I do. I think they saw how it affected me and they began looking at law enforcement differently.”
…
In his 27 years with Tustin PD, Hollingshead has seen a lot of tough stuff.
He’s responded to calls of a baby not breathing, motorcycle crashes, accidental deaths and everything in between.
Through it all, he tries to find something positive in the trauma.
In part, it’s his nature. A perpetual jokester with a prank or quick-witted comment always ready, Hollingshead is known for his boisterous laugh and humor.
But finding something good in the tragedies he sees also is the only way he can sleep at night.
With Rollie’s death, it took longer for Hollingshead to find a silver lining.
Rollie’s story, Hollingshead believes, is what spurred his children’s interest in pursuing careers in law enforcement.
His son, Glenn IV, 23, was hired by Tustin PD and currently is in the academy. He is expected to graduate in April.
His daughter, Hannah, 21, is a criminal justice major at Cal State Fullerton who hopes to one day join the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
“If these kids can help others or save a life by being in the right place at the right time, it’s because of Rollie,” Hollingshead said. “He has changed the world for the better.”
Hollingshead is set to retire in July, but he couldn’t do so without reaching out to the Guerra family a final time.
After eight years of delivering flowers to the family to show his support, this year he was ready to explain why he continues to show up.
“I don’t know where I’m going to be next year and I didn’t know if this was going to be my last time seeing the family,” he said. “I didn’t want them to wonder.”
Hollingshead on Nov. 8 dropped off flowers and also brought a letter that explained how the Guerra’s son impacted his life.
Although he didn’t see the family that day for a final hug, he left his goodbye on the porch of their Tustin home.
“I wanted them to know the person Rollie was last with cared and that I will never forget.”
Tustin PD Officer Glenn Hollingshead has worked for the department for 27 years. He recently shared his experience in dealing with the toughest call of his career.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
