Fallen Marysville officer Osmar Rodarte honored with law enforcement procession
MARYSVILLE – A procession was held Thursday morning for Marysville police officer Osmar Rodarte, who was killed in Olivehurst on Wednesday while trying to serve a search warrant.
The husband, father, and Army veteran had been on the job for two years. He was 27 years old.
Hundreds of community members from the Yuba-Sutter area and beyond joined hundreds of law enforcement personnel in a show of respect for fallen Ofc. Rodarte.
"The turnout is better today to honor this young man than some of our parades," said Marysville resident Kathy Vrablick.
Police, fire departments, and other agencies from across the region joined the procession escorting the officer's body to Placer County – with just a day's notice.
"I've met him, he's responded to calls. Just a great human being and so young," said Vrablick.
Ofc. Rodarte made such an impact in the community that some people took time off work to attend the procession, including staff at the Yuba Water Agency.
"It was so beautiful and so sad, all at once," said Dede Cordell with the Yuba Water Agency. "[It's] really powerful to watch and then see so much sadness, and yet so many people come together to support their community."
The warrant Rodarte was serving when the shooting broke out was a part of a multi-county drug investigation covering Tehama, Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties.
The suspect was identified by the Yuba County Sheriff's Office on Thursday as 61-year-old Rick David Oliver of Olivehurst. Oliver was hit by return gunfire and was pronounced dead inside his home. Rodarte died at the hospital.
The procession started at 9:30 a.m. in Marysville and ended in Placer County.
