BOULEVARD, Calif. — Friday, a ceremony to honor fallen Border Patrol Agent Eric Cabral, was held at the Boulevard Border Patrol Station to mark the renaming of a bridge near Jacumba to “Border Patrol Agent Eric Norman Cabral Memorial Bridge.”
Border Patrol Agent Eric Norman Cabral Memorial Bridge and signage
To preserve Agent Cabral’s memory, the family of Border Patrol Agent Eric Cabral, California Assemblyman Brian Jones, representatives from the U.S. Border Patrol, and Local Border Patrol Union 1613 gathered for the official unveiling of signs along Interstate 8.
Chief Patrol Agent Richard A. Barlow remarked, “On behalf of the men and women of San Diego Sector Border Patrol, we are grateful to Assemblyman Brian Jones and his staff for their resolve and thoughtfulness in sponsoring this esteemed recognition to honor the memory of fallen Border Patrol Agent Eric Cabral.”
On July 26, 2007, Eric and a fellow Border Patrol agent were tracking a group of suspected illegal aliens north of Interstate 8 near Jacumba. The agents separated and lost radio contact. Later, another agent found Eric unresponsive near the De Anza Springs Resort. Mercy Air responded, extracted Eric and airlifted him to a local hospital. Medical personnel were unable to revive Eric. It was determined that Eric died of complications brought on by heat exhaustion.
Eric, a 31-year-old San Diego native, entered on duty September 26, 2005, with Border Patrol Session 601.