End of Watch: February 8, 1989

On February 8, 1989, Deputy Ted Beckmann died when a cargo truck crossed the center dividing line on a Fallbrook roadway and struck Deputy Beckmann’s patrol car head-on. Deputy Beckmann was responding to cover a fellow deputy on a burglary-in-progress call when the accident occurred.

Deputy Beckmann was born in San Francisco on May 22, 1953. He graduated from Vista High School in 1972 and joined the Navy. After a tour of duty in Vietnam, Deputy Beckmann became a civilian helicopter mechanic for the Navy. His life-long dream, however, was to become a cop. The dream became a reality on March 14, 1980, when Ted Beckmann was appointed a Deputy Sheriff for San Diego County.

Deputy Beckmann enjoyed a distinguished career. In 1985, he was awarded a Medal of Merit for his work on a special detail the resulted in the apprehension of suspects in a burglary series in the Vista area. In 1988, Deputy Beckmann was commended for single-handedly disarming a suspect who was holding a Fallbrook Hospital staff member at gunpoint in the emergency room.

Deputy Beckmann was known as a loyal friend to many inside and outside the Sheriff’s Department. His colleagues praised him as a courageous and professional deputy who would stand his ground, support his partners, and lighten a tense situation with a joke and a smile. Deputy Ted Beckmann gave unselfishly of himself. He put his heart and soul into the protection of his family and the community.

Two sons, Ted and Steve, survive Deputy Beckmann.