Tutino a man who won’t be forgotten

Tutino a man who won’t be forgotten

Sometimes you can tell what kind of person a man was after he dies, even if he was a perfect stranger. Such is the case with Dep. James Tutino, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department peace officer who was killed in last week’s tragic train wreck in Glendale. He was a good man.

Tutino lived in Simi Valley with his wife, Rita, and their sons, James Jr. and Nicholas. He had spent 23 years with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and worked in the Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. Tutino was also an assistant football coach at Simi Valley High School.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, people were interviewed in newspapers and on TV about victims of the train derailment. Whenever Tutino’s name came up, he was praised. His friends and coworkers were passionate about Tutino. It was obvious that they cared deeply for him and genuinely believed that he was exceptional.

The circumstances surrounding his death can provoke those familiar but uneasy questions about fate and the unusual twists and turns in life. Tutino was in uniform and on his way to work. For all intents and purposes, he died in the line of duty.

But it wasn’t a gang member, prisoner or armed robber who killed Tutino. It was an aborted suicide attempt by a suspect who fled from his SUV at the last possible moment, thereby saving his own life, only to watch a much greater tragedy unfold. At least 11 were killed and several others were in critical condition.

It was such a senseless loss.

We pray for Tutino’s family and for all who knew him. We hope the healing can begin.

We offer our condolences, too, to the family and friends of Julia Bennett, 44, another victim and Simi Valley resident. She was also a civil servant. Bennett worked for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fire prevention bureau.