On September 28, 1968, at 0021 hours, Deputy Harold Hurst was traveling northbound on Fowler Avenue in a marked patrol vehicle.  As he arrived at the uncontrolled Southern Pacific Railroad tracks in the 1000 block of South Fowler, his vehicle collided with a westbound freight train.  Deputy Hurst was thrown from his patrol car and suffered a skull fracture and other injuries.  He was transported to Fresno County General Hospital for treatment, but he developed pneumonia and died on October 2nd.

Before serving with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Hurst had spent three years as a Deputy Sheriff with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department.  He was also a U.S. Army veteran.

Deputy Hurst, a Stockton native, was survived by his wife, Janet, and two daughters from a prior marriage.  A funeral mass was said at St. George’s Catholic Church, Stockton, and he was buried at High View Memorial Gardens, Farmington.