Sgt. Beverly Rodriguez once spent hours helping a young woman who had been left unhoused after escaping from an abusive relationship.

On another occasion, Rodriguez, who served as the head of the Metro Transit Police Department’s Homeless Action Team, fed and found housing for a young man who “knew her by name,” said her friend and colleague, Gloria Reyes, the deputy county manager for Ramsey County’s Safety and Justice service team.

“She was just so compassionate,” said Reyes, who worked with Rodriguez on Metro Transit’s Safe and Strong University Avenue initiative. “She had a big heart. She knew so many people out there, and people knew her by name, and she interacted with everybody. Like that young man, he knew her, and she knew him, and it was like a check-in. He was so happy to see her. You could tell it just made his day.”

Rodriguez, 40, of Woodbury, died Sunday after falling off a rented pontoon into White Bear Lake around 2:30 p.m., said Cmdr. Tim Harris of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. She was found about 40 minutes later by members of the Washington County Fire/Rescue Dive team in about 6 feet of water, with no visible signs of trauma, he said. She was pronounced dead at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, he said.

High waves due to wind

First reports show that Rodriguez was not wearing a life preserver or flotation device, Harris said.

“She had gone to the back of the pontoon, and they were navigating the high waves because of the wind (Sunday),” he said. “It sounds like she fell in after that.”

The man driving the pontoon was able to see that she had gone in and temporarily resurfaced, Harris said.

“He was able to jump in and try to get her, but then I think with the boat and the wind and everything moving so far, he went back and then got a lifejacket to go back and rescue her and wasn’t able to locate her,” he said.

Wind gusts of up to 35 mph were recorded near White Bear Lake on Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. One of the fire department dive teams swamped their rescue boat as they were trying to navigate the waves while trying to reach the recovery site, Harris said.

“It was pretty, pretty rough out there,” he said.

‘The very best of public service’

Rodriguez joined the Metro Transit Police Department in August 2017; she was promoted to sergeant in December 2022.

Rodriguez “exemplified the very best of public service through her tireless dedication to the Homeless Action Team,” Interim Metro Transit Police Chief Joseph Dotseth 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. Her passing leaves an immeasurable void in our community and within the Metro Transit family.

“Her legacy lives on in her colleagues in HAT, in every person she helped find housing, every crisis she helped resolve with patience rather than force, and every example she set of what it means to serve with both strength and compassion,” Dotseth said. “We ask that you keep Sergeant Rodriguez’s family, friends and loved ones in your thoughts.”

In a post shared on social media, Metro Transit officials wrote that Rodriguez’s impact extended far beyond her official duties.

“She understood that behind every interaction was a human being deserving of dignity, respect, and compassion,” the post states. “Her colleagues remember her as someone who could de-escalate the most difficult situations through genuine care and understanding. She built bridges where others saw only barriers, and she offered hope where others might have seen only problems.”

Rodriguez never sought recognition, Metro Transit officials said.

“Her humility was matched only by her commitment,” the post states. “She touched countless lives — from the individuals she connected to services and shelter, to the officers she mentored, to the community members who witnessed her quiet acts of kindness day after day. … Her spirit will continue to inspire us as we work to treat every member of our community with the dignity and care she so consistently demonstrated. In her memory, we recommit ourselves to the values she embodied: service, compassion, and the unwavering belief that every person matters.”

Homeless Action Team

Metro Transit Police Department’s Homeless Action Team was formed “to address all the folks that were sleeping on the trains, on the buses, on any transit property,” Rodriguez said in a February 2024 video produced by Metro Transit. “We realized that we were probably becoming the biggest shelter in the state of Minnesota for the homeless, so the need was out there.”

“Our main priority is to help folks get off the trains and into some type of program, or into some type of housing, shelter,” Rodriguez said in the interview. “It’s extremely hard to do the job that we do as a HAT officer because we have to be a social worker at the same time we have to be a police officer. I think the folks who are on this unit definitely have a calling, and they have a passion for the work that they do.”

Reyes said the next meeting of the Safe and Strong University Avenue initiative, scheduled for Wednesday, is going to be tough.

“It’s, like, how can we go out there without her being there?” she said. “But at the same time, we know that’s what she would have wanted. She would want people with her commitment, her dedication, to be out there showing compassion and care for the communities who are struggling the most. That’s how we can honor her.”

Rodriguez attended St. Mary’s University from December 2015 to 2017, North Hennepin Community College from August 2011 to October 2014 and Rasmussen College from August 2010 to May 2011, according to Metro Transit officials. Her first job in law enforcement was with Metro Transit.

She was a longtime member of the National Latino Peace Officers Association, serving on the board of the Minnesota Chapter since 2014. She had also served on the organization’s national board as the Northern Region vice president since 2021.

Online fundraiser

An online fundraiser has been established to help the Rodriguez family “to ease the burden … during this challenging time,” according to a post on the fundraising site Zeffy.

Harris, the commander from Washington County, said he got to meet Rodriguez about six months ago. The two had worked together on a couple of projects dealing with the homeless, he said.

“She was definitely very passionate about helping other people,” he said. “She was just a bright light, for sure. … It’s always tough when we lose one of our own.”

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

Simonet Funeral Home in Stillwater is handling funeral arrangements.