Second Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Dies Of Coronavirus

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) – A second Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy has died after contracting COVID-19, authorities announced Friday.

An undated photograph of Deputy David Werksman, who passed away on April 2, 2020 after contracting the coronavirus. (RCSO)

Deputy David Werksmen passed away Thursday from complications associated with coronavirus, the sheriff’s department reported.

He was assigned in sheriff’s administration at the time of his death. He was a 22-year veteran of the department, according to the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association (RSA), the union which represents deputies.

A procession was held for Werksmen Friday afternoon starting at the coroner’s office in Perris and ending in Riverside as fellow law enforcement and community members waited along the route.

This comes after Deputy Terrell Young, a 15-year department veteran, also died Thursday from COVID-19.  Young was the first law enforcement officer in Southern California to die of the disease.

So far, at 23 sheriff’s department employees and eight Riverside County jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19.

Werksmen began his sheriff’s department career in 1998 assigned to the Robert Presley Detention Center and later worked as part of a hazmat team out of Lake Elsinore, the union said. He was an FBI-certified bomb safety technician.

He leaves behind a wife and three children, according to RSA.

“We’re already risking a lot to be out there and protect the citizens and that’s what we signed up for, but we need their help to stay in and adhere to those rules,” said RSA president Deputy Bill Young.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 — the disease caused by the coronavirus — is spread from person-to-person through close contact, usually within 6 feet, and mainly via respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. People are likely most contagious when they are most symptomatic. Coronavirus can also be spread by touching contaminated surfaces and then touching your mouth, nose and eyes.