Family, friends remember Las Vegas police sergeant with park dedication
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Sergeant Henry Prendes, who joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in Feb. 1991, is now the namesake of a park near Pebble and Bermuda in Silverado Ranch.
Prendes died in the line of duty in February 2006. He responded to a home for a domestic disturbance call and was shot and killed before entering.
Former colleagues and family remembered Prendes Tuesday morning, as Hidden Palms Park was renamed after him.
“It was an honor to be his captain,” former LVMPD Captain Mark Tavarez told FOX5. “He was a good man.”
“It means the world to me and my sister to have a park named after him,” Brooke Waugh, Prendes’ daughter, said before the dedication. “I have kids, she has kids, so now we have a place for his grandkids to go.”
LVMPD Undersheriff Andrew Walsh talked during the ceremony about the impact Prendes left.
“This man gave his life and left behind a beautiful family while protecting a complete stranger,” Walsh said. “That should resonate with people.”
“He lived as part of something bigger than himself,” Tavarez echoed. “Part of something that was a protector of the community. Which is extremely important for all of us.”
Waugh, who was 15 when Prendes was killed, says she lost more than a father.
“He was my best friend,” she said. “We did everything together. We hunted, we golfed together.”
It was Waugh’s idea to dedicate this park to her dad. Walsh hopes it will let Prendes’ family know they are remembered.
“The true test of showing people that we’ll never forget is in the months, the weeks and the years after. That’s when the phone stops ringing,” Walsh said about families who have lost someone in the line of duty. “So you have to make sure it’s always ringing. You have to make sure they always feel like they have a connection to the organization. To the police department. To the officers that work here.”
Waugh told FOX5 she realized on the way to the dedication that Hidden Palms Park, its former name, has the same initials as her father, and said that made the occasion a bit more special.
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