Fallen Officers
- On 26 June 1978, Officer Albert Marshal Claggett IV and Officer James Swart were shot and killed with Claggett's revolver by Terrence Johnson, a 15-year-old theft suspect, while in the booking area of the Hyattsville District Station. Johnson was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Officer Claggett and not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of Officer Swart. Johnson was sentenced to 25 years in prison; he was paroled in 1995. In 1997, Johnson and his brother robbed a bank in Aberdeen, Maryland. As police officers approached to arrest him, Johnson committed suicide.
- On 21 June 2005, Sergeant Steven F. Gaughan was murdered during a traffic stop in Laurel.
- On 27 June 2008, Corporal Richard S. Findley was killed by Ronnie L. White, who was driving a stolen pickup truck. White struck Corporal Findley with the truck as he attempted to elude police and avoid being arrested in Laurel. White appeared to be in good physical condition when he was arrested but died of asphyxiation while in the custody of the Prince George's County Department of Corrections. The death was ruled a homicide. The Prince George's County Police investigated the crime; suspects included several guards. A cell video camera, which would have recorded the incident was either disabled or obstructed. There were no arrests.
- On 9 March 2010, Private First Class Tom Jensen succumbed at Prince George's Hospital Center after a vehicular crash. He was responding to a man breaking into a woman's apartment on 27 February 2010. Due to his 5-plus years of service to the citizens of Prince George's County, he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Corporal.
- On 20 August 2012, Adrian Morris died as a result of an automobile accident on the Washington DC Capital Beltway near Route 212. Officer Michael Risher was also was injured but was expected to survive, according to the police department. Morris, who was driving the police cruiser, was attempting to catch-up to another vehicle while investigating a reported crime. The police cruiser apparently veered off the highway and into a ravine. Morris, who was thrown from the vehicle, suffered severe head injuries. He was pronounced dead at Prince George's Hospital. Morris, 23, was a former member of the Prince George’s Police Explorers.
Read more about this topic: Prince George's County Police Department
Famous quotes containing the words fallen and/or officers:
“We have fallen in the dreams the Ever-living
Breathe on the burnished mirror of the world
And then smooth out with ivory hands and sigh,
And find their laughter sweeter to the taste
For that brief sighing.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself. Armies will obey him on his personal account. There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)