Michael V. Gallagher
A Lancaster County native on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona was killed when a suspected drunken driver sped through an intersection and slammed into his vehicle, authorities said.
Michael V. Gallagher, formerly of Maytown, died at the scene of the crash about six miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday morning, Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher said in a statement.
Gallagher was 32.
He is survived by a wife and two young sons in Casa Grande, a growing city between Phoenix and Tucson, as well as numerous family members from Lancaster County.
Gallagher grew up in both Manheim Township and Maytown, said his father, Michael P. Gallagher. He graduated in 1996 from Donegal High School, where he play basketball and ran track.
He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing from Bloomsburg University in 2002.
"He was just a good son," said his father, who lives in Mountville. "A loving person. He really loved his wife and sisters and his whole family."
Police with the Tohono O'odham Nation, a Native American reservation the size of Connecticut in southwestern Arizona, charged a 40-year-old woman from Sells, Ariz., with negligent homicide, criminal damage and driving under the influence in the crash.
Additional federal charges are pending.
Police said the woman was driving on a dirt rood on the southern Arizona reservation near the village of Topawa and failed to yield to the agent's vehicle as she approached Federal Route 19.
Her car hit Gallagher's car at about 9:30 a.m., causing it to roll off the road. Gallagher was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other car sustained nonlife-threatening injuries and was taken into custody after failing field-sobriety tests, police said.
Michael P. Gallagher said his son was finishing up the night shift and had just transported two immigrants who had crossed into the country illegally to a patrol station at the border. The agent was heading north, back toward home, when his vehicle was struck.
In a statement published by the Arizona Daily Star, Tohono O'odham Police Chief Joseph Delgado said: "This is a tragic event that could have been prevented. I hope this is a wake-up call to everyone that driving under the influence is dangerous, unlawful and, unfortunately in this case, proved to be deadly."
Gallagher, a two-year veteran of the Border Patrol, served in Iraq with the U.S. Army from 2002 until 2008. He began work with the 794th Border Patrol Session in July 2008, Fisher said. Gallagher was assigned to patrol the Tucson area.
Michael P. Gallagher said his son was following in his sister Julie's footsteps. She has been a border patrol agent for a decade.
"Julie and Mike were always close growing up. Mike always looked up to his older sister," he said. "I guess Mike probably saw what she was doing and thought, 'That looks like something I would like to do.' "
According to an obituary posted online by the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home, Gallagher is survived by his wife, Samantha, and two sons, Quincy, 8, and Rhyan, 3, of Casa Grande, Ariz.; parents Michael and Jean Gallagher of Mountville and Diane and William Alexander of Lancaster; two sisters, Julie Gallagher-Merone, wife of Jon Merone, of El Paso, Texas, and Jeanette Gallagher, of Charlotte, N.C.; and a step-brother, Tom Lohr, husband of Angie Lohr, of Lancaster.
Gallagher is also survived by grandparents Lloyd and Mary Waller of Lancaster.
Memorial services are being held Wednesday in Casa Grande.
The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the children's college funds. The address is U.S. Border Patrol, c/o Patrol Agent in Charge, 396 N. Camino Mercado, Casa Grande, AZ 85122-5760.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.