The Cleveland Police Museum is honored to tell the stories of our Fallen Officers on the anniversary of their End of Watch.
Richard White joined the Cleveland Police Department as a Motorcycle Patrolman for the 3rd District in December, 1922.
On August 4, 1927, Patrolman White was pursuing a speeding motorist on East 55th Street at an estimated speed of 40 to 45 mph. As the pursuit neared the Luther Ave intersection, a vehicle cut the corner and turned left directly into Motorcycle Patrolman White’s path.
White locked the brakes and skidded the motorcycle about fifty to sixty feet before he and the cycle flipped over and into Austin’s car. White sustained a fractured skull and was impaled on one of the cycle’s handle bars. White was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died several hours later.
EOW Aug 4, 1927
White was survived by his fiancé, his widowed mother Anna and three sisters: Estell McCombe, Esther Flanagan (wife of Sergeant Edward Flanagan of the Broadway-Jones Road station) and sixteen year old Dorothy A. White.
Police Chief Graul of the E. 55th-Perkins Avenue precinct expressed his sorrow over White’s death stating, “Dick White was one of our most fearless and conscientious policemen. He was always a gentleman.” Services were held at Holy Name Catholic Church and he was laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery.
