Sheriff Showdown: Charity hockey game held for family of Elio Diaz

Reporter: Zoe Warner Writer: Tim Belizaire
Published: Updated:

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office faced the Suffolk County Sheriff’s hockey team in a Sheriff Showdown at Hertz Arena in Estero.

The charity hockey game was held at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Tickets for this event were sold at $20 each, and the Florida Everblades donated $5 for every ticket bought to the family of Sgt. Elio Diaz.

Diaz was killed in December while assisting a man during a traffic stop.

Mario Martinez and his family are all loyal Everblades fans. He said that this was a game he and his family could not miss.

“I got family that’s first responders,” said Martinez. “My cousin, he’s a firefighter. So going through what he goes through, and dealing with everyday things, he gets emotional and stuff like that. So trying to support families is the best.”

Martinez said that the loss of Diaz made him emotional.

“I did get a little choked up there because I’m a dad. I got two boys,” said Martinez. “Thinking about them growing up without their father, it’s really tough. They’re protecting us when nobody else wants to do it. They’re stepping up and doing their job.”

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office won the game 7-1.

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