Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Juan Cruz’s charred patrol vehicle, lower left, on Dec. 9, 1998, after it was struck at high speed by another vehicle on I-10 at Ruthrauff Road.

 Jim Davis, Arizona Daily Star 1998

The vote to name an Interstate 10 overpass in Tucson in honor of an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper who was killed in the line of duty was deferred last week pending support from the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tucson City Council, despite the naming receiving overwhelming community support.

On Dec. 9, 1998, Trooper Juan Cruz, along with two other DPS officers, was blocking the high speed traffic lane of I-10 with his patrol vehicle while investigating a prior collision near Ruthrauff Road, the Arizona Daily Star previously reported. A vehicle traveling west then crashed into the patrol vehicle with Cruz inside.

Cruz died due from his injuries. The driver was later sentenced to 11 years in prison for manslaughter.

About 22 years later, Jim Sayre, a family friend of Cruz, noticed the overpass being built at the I-10-Ruthrauff interchange, the same place the crash took place, inspiring him to start a petition for the Trooper Juan Cruz Memorial Overpass. The petition has since received over 7,000 signatures.

“This was a police officer who was working in his office, as I like to say, which is the freeway and this police car, supporting those of us and protecting those of us in the state of Arizona,” Sayre said. “So what is a better way to honor him than to name that bridge that his employer just built at the place where he died on the job?”

Sayre started asking officials in 2020 what the process would be to get the overpass named in Cruz’s honor, speaking to the project manger of the actual overpass and the governor’s office. He later learned he needed to submit an application to the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names.

However, the official review board within the State Board of Geographic and Historic Names was not refunded before the previous state legislative session ended, causing Sayre to have to wait and see if a new house bill would be introduced.

Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Juan Cruz, 48, died after his patrol car was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Marissa Ann Rodriguez. Cruz and other officers were investigating an early morning accident on I-10 and Ruthrauff. Cruz’s vehicle burst into flames when it was struck.

In 2021, House Bill 2058 passed to re-establish the board and Sayre had one less obstacle in his way. A year later, the board was established and it had its first meeting on July 26, where Sayre’s request would finally be discussed.

“We packed the house with supporters, both physically in person and then also on the virtual option,” Sayre said. “One of the board members that has been on this board for some time made a comment along the lines of wow, this is more support than we’ve ever seen for a naming. So, it was pretty cool.”

Despite having the support of 25 state lawmakers and the general public, the board decided to defer the vote since the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Tucson City Council had not answered the board about whether they support the naming of the overpass in Cruz’s honor.

The Trooper Juan Cruz Memorial Overpass Facebook page said they have already written a brief note to both the Pima County Board of Supervisors and Tucson City Council, asking for their formal support.

“The good thing is they didn’t say no, but they also didn’t approve it,” Sayre said. “I totally respect that the board is interested in hearing from the local governments. I’m a little disappointed that the research staff that that reaches out to those government entities only did so within the last like six weeks or so, even though our application has been in for 19 months.”

Sayre said the board hasn’t made any commitments for when the naming request will be back on its agenda, but its next meeting will be in October.

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Jamie Donnelly covers breaking news for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at

jdonnelly@tucson.com