Bikers Ride 20 Hours in Memory of Fallen Officer

Johnny Rodriguez tucked the ovular silver and gold badge back into a small, cloth pouch and slid it into his pocket for safekeeping. For the next 1,052 miles, he was responsible for the shiny piece of metal that defined in many ways how an old friend of his lived his life and, ultimately, how his life was taken.

Riding in the third of three groups set out for a multi-hour tour that would draw a large loop through the heart of Texas, Rodriguez was carrying a symbol that the retired police sergeant knows all too well, holding it dearly as he carried an old friend along for one of his favorite pastimes.

“The Padron family, they have Jaime’s badge that he wore while he was working and they have asked me to carry the badge this year on the ride in memory of him,” Rodriguez explained, holding the pouch. “I’m very, very blessed to be able to do such a thing for the family. It means a lot for them to feel like Jaime’s being a part of this group still. He was a part of our organization at the time of his death and we’re ready to just keep going and keep going and they want him to continue to be a part of this.”

Every April just after sunup, groups of men in their leathers convene around the tables of Jaime Padron Memorial Park for an hour of chatter, prayer and congress before strapping on helmets and hitting the road.

The tradition is a new one, born out of the local chapter of the motorcycle club Blue Knights in 2014, who called Padron a proud member before the former San Angelo police officer was killed in the line of duty on April 6, 2012 in Austin.

“Last year we turned around and we went to Austin because it was the first year…we went to the Harley Davidson where Jaime bought his bike…” Blue Knights President and Padron’s former Gang Unit partner Brian Bylsma said. “…this year, what we’re doing is we’ve changed the route…Basically what we did is we took a part of it through the day is in the Hill Country, and then we went west on the highway because once you start going west it’s easier to stay in groups and the speed’s a little bit higher….”

Sixteen bikers, some from the Midland-Odessa “Hog” Harley Davidson club and the remainder from the Blue Knights, came together on Saturday morning for a cup of coffee and a prayer before hitting the highway for over 19 straight hours on an Iron Butt Run in memory of Padron.

Donations and registration fees totaling some $5,000 were turned over to the Area Foundation following the event, funds set aside for a Jaime Padron Scholarship Fund that will award one local child of past or present law enforcement a $1,000 scholarship on an annual basis. The first recipient will be awarded this year.

“The significance [of the ride] is being able to honor the man that was basically a civil servant, that dedicated his life to serving the public, and also the fact that he dedicated his life towards his education,” Bylsma said.

Padron was a man that impacted the community and was famously known for good spirits and laughter, his friends and family relate. Having worked several years in San Angelo and in Austin, commemorative rides, walks, schools and parks have been dedicated in his honor.

In San Angelo, the Jaime Padron Memorial Park at 2700 Ben Ficklin serves as a starting point each year for the Iron Butt Run, but also recently served as the start line for a one-man march of approximately 21.5 miles that ended at Padron’s parents’ house in Knickerbocker.

On April 6, the day of Padron’s anniversary, SAPD sergeant Matt Baldwin set out carrying a flag bearing Padron’s name and the words “Honor and Remember” emblazoned on the front and walked for roughly six and a half hours in memory of his friend.

Baldwin said he’d been thinking of ways to honor Padron, but made the decision to walk was made rather impulsively and wasn’t sure he’d make it. Along the way he was met by Padron’s brother, who was overwhelmed and touched by the effort.

"I guess I kind of started off, I was looking for something to do on the third anniversary of Jaime's death...to signify the fact that I still remember him and so many of us still remember him," Baldwin said. "I was looking for something that I thought would justifiably recognize that date and I came up with that walk I did." 

Holding the flag that flew above Padron's bike in last year's Iron Butt Run, Bladwin set out on the Monday morning having told very few of what his intentions were. The flag was to bring awareness to his goal of honoring Jaime Padron and keeping his memory alive, and along the way, several stopped and asked Baldwin why he was marching down the road. Despite the flag, Baldwin says he made the trek alone because it was his way of remembering Padron.

"It was something personal for me that I wanted to do," Baldwin said. "He was my friend. I remember him. It was something that I wanted to do for his family and friends to show his sginificance."

Near the end of the walk, Baldwin said he felt like he was walking on hot coals. Every year he does something different on Padron's anniversary, and he has not yet decided whether he'll do it again next year.

"It's a very long way and I would not be opposed to it," he said. "It's definitely not for the faint of heart because you have to tell your mind to keep going. I had a lot of people tell me they wished they'd known about it because they would have done it with me."

“That was amazing,” remarked Gloria Padron, wife of John Padron, Jaime’s brother. “It just surprised us, because we didn’t know. He told my husband like a week or two before, but it was very, very touching.”

Three full years after Jaime’s death, his brother John and the rest of his family is still surprised and touched by the amount of impact their loved one had on those with whom he came in contact.

“On his anniversary, which was just on the 6^th, on Monday, in the evening after me and my wife had done some work together we came back and went to the cemetery, well, there was two Austin police officers there,” John Padron said with a note of surprise. “We sat there and laughed and cried and everything for a good while, just telling stories about him and everything about how he was. Everybody had had a unique little experience with him and it all kind of ties in together, you know. We had a good time.”

John Padron, like many of those who knew him, described his favorite memory of his brother by means of story.

“He used to go see me,” he began. “We’d go see my mom and spend a little time with my mom and then we’d go to my house. We’re real respectful of my parents—we don’t drink in front of them and we’d sit there and drink and before you know it, he’d just start laughing and laughing. He’d get to feeling good and just little jokes that we’d tell and little stories that we’d tell and just—his laughter. That’s got to be my favorite thing. He was a good guy.”

Rodriguez, who would carry the badge for the next 21 hours as he rode his new motorcycle, knew the Padron’s well. He and Jaime had worked together on patrol in San Angelo, he explained, then Padron’s wife interned under Rodriguez’s as a polygraph examiner.

"…we got fairly close,” Rodriguez said. “We spent some time at their house, watched their kids be born. We were very, very fortunate to be able to have such a close relationship with the entire family.”

But his favorite memory of Jaime, Rodriguez explained, was one anyone that knew him could relate to. “Probably, like everybody else’s [favorite], no matter what was going on, no matter what time of day it was, whether he had slept all night long or hadn’t slept in days, there was the ever-present smile of his. It was just always, always there.”

Two of the groups that headed out on Saturday finished the 1,052-mile tour in approximately 20 hours; the third finished in roughly 19. The recipient of the scholarship has not yet been chosen, however this will be the first year one is awarded in Padron’s name.

“We’re proud of everybody that comes out here, and if anything, we apologize for the noise,” John Padron said.