Beyond the Badge: Officer Gil Vega’s brother speaks out in exclusive interview

For Frank Vega, he always knew his brother, Palm Springs police officer Jose “Gil” Vega was destined to be in law enforcement. The mantra of “To Serve and Protect” was something Frank said was something brother always lived by.

“It was in him,” said Frank Vega. “It was natural. It was innate in him to protect and that’s probably why he became law-enforcement not just to serve but to protect.”

As the youngest brother in his family, Frank said he always looked up to Officer Vega.

“I saw what he was doing so Gilbert was always Superman to me,” he said. “Somebody that says, ‘Oh my god, this man is….this person is … is the most inhuman,’ but he was a human person but he was my protector.”

Officer Vega and Officer Lesley Zerebny responded to a domestic disturbance call in Palm Springs on October 8th. There, gunfire broke out and both officers died at the scene as well as injuring another Palm Springs police officer. Frank Vega said when he heard the news of Gil’s passing, it was a horrible feeling for his family.

“I could imagine the pain that his own children are going through and his wife,” he said. “It must be horrendous….”

Frank said he had deep respect for his brother, especially when Officer Vega helped set him straight. He admitted he had run-ins with the law in the past and had been arrested. Officer Vega convinced him that he could be a better man and change his course in life.

“He would always tell me, “Brother you don’t have to live that kind of life you can be a good man’,” he said. “The best advice my brother gave me, more than the worse that he told me, was seeing him for what he was…a police officer. I was so proud and you know I never told him that and I should have but seeing him in that uniform, it really made me proud.”

It was that uniform, Frank said he wanted people to realize that police officers were just normal people. He was aware about the nationwide debate on the role of police in society but wanted everyone to hear his takeaway.

“Police officers are human beings,” he said. “They don’t go to a warehouse like Robocop and be recharged. They go home to their families, to their wives, to their children, to whomever they go home to. They take off that uniform, they put their gun away, they get out of their car and they want to go home just like you and I and everybody else. They all want to go home.”

When asked if there was anything he wanted to say to his brother, Frank Vega became emotional.

“Brother I should’ve told her how much I love you. How much I respected you … how much I miss you. I’m sorry that you and Officer Lesley [Zerebny] are no longer with us. I would have gladly taken your place brother I really would have,” he said. “Unfortunately I couldn’t but I was very proud of you brother. I am very, very thankful that you were my brother. I’m very thankful that you chose to be a police officer to make a difference in the community. So, I love you, Brother. I’ll miss you and someday I hope to see you again. Someday I’ll see you again.”

26-year-old John Felix is accused of killing Officer Vega and Officer Zerebny. His currently in jail on charges of first degree murder for their deaths. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin recently announced he would seek the death penalty. Frank said he felt the Felix family suffered just as much as family and did not blame Felix’s parents.

“I’m sorry that this tragedy unfolded in your family, that your son was the cause of so much pain,” he said. “I know that you’re hurting also you and all your family. I wish this never happened but it did. And I want you to know that I am praying for him. I have no ill Will against him. I have no hate against him.”

Above all, Frank said as the memories fade of his brother in the community, that would happen with him and his family.

“The community may forget him soon enough but we won’t, I won’t, his children won’t, his wife won’t, my family won’t.”