WOODBURY, MN (WNN) – A Woodbury woman drowned in White Bear Lake Sunday, according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Beverly Rodriguez, 40, was a sergeant with the Metro Transit Police.
The sheriff’s office was sent to the east side of the lake at 2:27 p.m. after a report of a woman under water who had not resurfaced after jumping off a pontoon boat. The release says she was under for about 40 minutes before she was recovered by the rescue dive team. Although she was transported by ambulance to a trauma center, Rodriguez was pronounced dead on arrival. The sheriff’s office is investigating.
In a statement released to the Minnesota Star Tribune, the National Latino Peace Officers Association said Sergeant Rodriguez served as regional vice president on its national board since 2021. She served as a board member with the association’s Minnesota chapter beginning in 2014.
As a transit officer, Rodriguez led the department’s Homeless Action Team, helping “countless members of our communities, productively and compassionately.” The statement added: “She will be forever remembered for her kindness, passion, humor, servant heart, athleticism, and sense of adventure.”
Metro Transit said in a statement that Rodriguez joined its force in 2017 and was promoted to sergeant in 2022.
In a Metro Transit video posted on Instagram last year, Rodriguez said she always admired female police officers but knew some Latinos were scared to talk to police. “I became a police officer to bridge that gap between the Latino community and police, to be someone that speaks their language and understands them so they feel comfortable expressing concerns,” she said
She added that her favorite part of the job is “knowing I helped someone in some capacity at the end of the day, whether that is making an arrest to protect the public, getting someone treatment, making someone’s day better by assisting them with directions or a ride, or helping someone get into a warm place to sleep at night.”
The statement from Metro Transit praised her commitment. “Rodriguez exemplified the very best of public service through her tireless dedication to the Metro Transit Police Department’s Homeless Action Team,” the statement said. “She approached this challenging work not merely as a job, but as a calling – bringing both her professional expertise, boundless empathy, and her generous spirit to serve those experiencing homelessness.”
