EL CENTRO — Family and colleagues gathered for a funeral procession honoring El Centro Sector Border Patrol Agent Alejandro Flores-Bañuelos on Wednesday, March 24, in El Centro.
The vehicle procession departed the offices of the county Sheriff’s Office coroner’s division shortly after 1 p.m. and was preceded by a private ceremony.
The procession was en route to the Beaumont offices of Weaver Mortuary and Crematory. Flores-Bañuelos’ coffin will be interred later at Riverside National Cemetery, the Border Patrol reported.
Flores-Bañuelos was struck and killed by a vehicle on March 15 while responding to the scene of a vehicle accident on Highway 86 north of North Marina Drive in Salton City.
The 33-year-old Indio resident was on duty when he had exited his vehicle to attend to a vehicle that was stopped in the northbound lanes of Highway 86 at the accident scene.
As Flores-Bañuelos was apparently standing in the roadway to assist the stopped motorist, he was struck by a passing motorist, the California Highway Patrol previously reported.
Both Flores-Bañuelos and the passenger in the vehicle he was helping were transported to Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley, where he was pronounced dead, authorities reported.
Personnel from the El Centro Sector Border Patrol and California Highway Patrol took part in the procession honoring the 12-year veteran of the Border Patrol.
Flores-Bañuelos was assigned to the local sector’s Indio station and was a former U.S. Marine, according to the El Centro Sector. He leaves behind his wife and three children.
