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Hector Martinez

Age : 49

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 05/21/2026

Location : 1100 block of West Ramsey Street near 8th Street

City : Banning

County : Riverside

State : California

Agency : Banning Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Wheelchair user killed by police vehicle

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

NARRATIVE:
On 05/21/2026, 49-year-old Hector Martinez was killed after an on-duty Banning Police Department officer driving a patrol vehicle struck him while Martinez was crossing West Ramsey Street in a wheelchair in Banning, California.
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At approximately 10:45 p.m., the Banning police officer was driving westbound in the 1100 block of West Ramsey Street near 8th Street. Martinez was traveling south across the westbound lanes of Ramsey Street in his wheelchair when the patrol vehicle struck him.
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According to the California Highway Patrol, the impact threw Martinez into the eastbound side of Ramsey Street, where he came to rest in the No. 2 traffic lane.
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The Banning police officer stopped after the collision and provided aid. American Medical Response and Banning Fire Department personnel responded, and Martinez was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.
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The California Highway Patrol investigated the fatal collision. Initial reporting did not disclose why the Banning officer was driving on Ramsey Street, whether the officer was responding to a call, whether emergency lights or siren were activated, or the speed of the patrol vehicle before it struck Martinez.
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Martinez was not identified in the initial news coverage. Subsequent Banning-area death and funeral records list 49-year-old Hector Martinez as having died on 05/21/2026, the exact date of the police collision. Wiefels Mortuary & Cremation Services in Banning handled his funeral arrangements. The obituary information gives his date of birth as 01/02/1977. The Banning obituary index independently records Hector Martinez, age 49, as dying on May 21.
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Local Facebook material surrounding reporting of the fatal West Ramsey Street police collision also produced a memorial/fundraising reference for Hector Martinez, providing additional circumstantial evidence connecting Martinez to the man killed in the collision. Taken together with his exact date of death, age, Banning funeral arrangements and local memorial activity, I am identifying the victim as Hector Martinez for this database entry. The identification should still be updated if Riverside County authorities subsequently publish a conflicting identification.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Banning Police Department has not publicly identified the officer driving the patrol vehicle that struck and killed Martinez. No information located thus far establishes whether the officer was disciplined, cited or criminally charged in connection with the collision.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://kesq.com/news/2026/05/26/man-in-wheelchair-struck-and-killed-by-police-vehicle-in-banning/
https://www.facebook.com/bmtnewssource/videos/2204656520294586/
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/48671130/hector---martinez
https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/ca/banning
https://www.echovita.com/us/funeral-homes/ca/banning/wiefels-mortuary-cremation-services-2601