Deputy Hagop "Jake" Kuredjian
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Date of Birth: June 5, 1961
Date Appointed: February 1, 1984
End of Watch: August 31, 2001
Deputy Hagop "Jake" Kuredjian, a 17-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, was killed as he responded to a shootout in Stevenson Ranch in the Santa Clarita Valley on Friday, Aug. 31, after a man opened fire on federal and local officials trying to serve a search warrant. Charged in the incident was a former Arcadia police officer, James Allen Beck, with weapons violations and impersonating a U.S. marshal. Beck, a twice-convicted felon, allegedly shot Kuredjian from the second floor of his home as the deputy ducked for cover behind a nearby car when violence erupted . Kuredjian, 40, was hit in the head by a single bullet, officials reported. Several minutes passed before other law enforcement personnel could pull him to safety because Beck continued to fire at them.