Originally published by mercurynews.com on June 7, 2017
As parting acts go, prosecutor Chris Walsh’s last feat before quitting the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office on Friday confirmed his reputation as an all-around good guy.
Courtesy of Chris Walsh – Santa Clara County prosecutor Chris Walsh has taken a job as the second in command of the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office.
Walsh, 35, and his family are moving to the Tahoe area, where he’s been hired by the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office as the second in command of about a dozen prosecutors. He’ll take a pay cut, but the move to the Sierras allows the popular homicide prosecutor to join the ranks of management sooner than he would otherwise — and to enjoy the great outdoors.
Walsh was trying to do just that over the Memorial Day weekend with his wife and three kids when he came across a bloody bicyclist propped up against a rock wall on the side of the narrow Mt. Hamilton Road, holding his shoulder. The family was on their way to a campsite further up the road.
Two other cars had passed the bicyclist without stopping. But Walsh immediately pulled over in his Jeep. “I knew something was wrong because I could see blood coming from his head,’’ he said.
As he approached the injured man, Walsh thought he looked familiar. It turned out to be a fellow prosecutor, who told Walsh he’d crashed after his brakes froze up. The man, whose colleagues asked IA not to identify, had called his wife, but she hadn’t arrived, Walsh said.
Meanwhile, the man was in shock with at least two broken bones. Walsh summoned a ranger and also collected his colleague’s damaged bike at his request. The co-worker wound up in the hospital for several days, undergoing surgery, and was unavailable for comment.
Modest as usual, Walsh shrugged off his role as a Good Samaritan. “I would hope anyone would stop,’’ he said. But his colleagues have been teasing him relentlessly. “Are you a superhero?’’ one emailed.
Walsh’s response: “Batman has never been seen in the same place at the same time as me.”
