In the evening hours of Aug. 22, 1914, Corporal Al Poulter and his partner, Special Officer Lester Manning, were racing by car to the scene of a fire at a rehabilitation institute in East Oakland. They were traveling south on Fruitvale Avenue, intending to turn onto East 14th Street. As they reached the intersection, their vehicle collided with another car.

Poulter died at the scene, and Manning sustained severe injuries. Their vehicle was totally destroyed.

Poulter was the first officer in the Oakland Police Department to die in an automobile accident.