Officer Louis Pena was 42 and a Coral Gables police officer when he was shot and killed on April 2, 1978, during a traffic stop for running a red light. Pena stayed in his patrol car with his K-9 partner Abe while a backup officer stood across the street. The stopped vehicle had been stolen by a parolee. The driver, identified as Manuel Valle, refused to give proper identification, gave a false name, and repeatedly returned to his car while Pena radioed details.

When dispatch provided the vehicle owner’s name and the passenger began to exit, Valle turned and fired through the open window, striking Pena in the neck; the backup officer was also shot but survived after his vest stopped the bullet. Pena was taken to Coral Gables Hospital and died about an hour later; K-9 Abe was found guarding him at the scene.

Both men from the car were caught in Deerfield Beach soon after. Valle was tried multiple times, received death sentences, and was executed by lethal injection on September 28, 2011; the passenger received a 10-year sentence for his role. Pena had served 12 years with the department and was a U.S. Army veteran, survived by a wife, son, three daughters, parents, and two siblings.