OAKLAND, Calif. — An Oakland Police Department aircrew located a woman stranded on a steep, wooded hillside near Leona Heights Park, then guided patrol officers to her position for a coordinated ground rescue, according to a department news release published July 15.
The incident began shortly after 2:15 p.m. on July 12, 2026. Police said the Oakland woman had been hiking when she slipped on a steep, slick trail covered by dense trees. She fell down the hillside and became stranded in terrain she could not safely navigate on her own.
Aircrew pinpoints the hiker’s location
The department deployed its Air Support Unit, known as ARGUS, to search from above. Pilot Todd Martin and Tactical Flight Officer Prince Tenefrancia spotted the woman through the tree-covered terrain and directed patrol officers to her exact location.
That aerial view was an important part of the response. Oakland Police said finding the hiker without it would have been slower and would have increased the risk to both the woman and the officers searching for her.
Five patrol officers cross hazardous terrain
Officers Mariano Camacho-Perez, Tommy Nguyen, Daniel Salcido Jr., Gabriel Abea, and Rodolfo Castro moved through steep, slippery, wooded ground to reach the stranded hiker.
Once the officers made contact, they assessed her condition and carefully coordinated her extraction back to the trail. The official release did not provide additional medical details or say that she required hospital treatment.
The rescue brought together two different police capabilities: an aircrew that could see through the geographic problem from above and ground officers willing to negotiate difficult terrain to reach someone who needed help.
Why the rescue matters
Hillside rescues can expose both stranded people and responders to unstable footing, limited visibility, and difficult access. In this case, precise communication between the helicopter crew and patrol officers shortened the search and gave the ground team a direct route toward the hiker.
Oakland Police credited the successful outcome to teamwork, communication, and professional judgment under hazardous conditions. The rescue also illustrates how law-enforcement aviation units can support public safety beyond traditional enforcement work, particularly when terrain makes a ground-only search slower or more dangerous.
Source and image attribution
Featured-image note: Oakland Police published a generic official department news-release graphic with the release, not a photograph from the rescue. ThinBlueNews used that official graphic in a clearly labeled editorial card and does not represent it as incident imagery.
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