Officer William C. Foote, 33, was returning from a special traffic control assignment at the Salinas Rodeo when his motorcycle crashed head-on into another vehicle. Officers traveling with Foote believed a tire blow-out or a crack in the pavement caused the patrolman to lose control and swerve into the path of the oncoming car.
Officer Foote, who was born in Aberdeen, Idaho, spent his youth in White Bear Lake, Minnesota where he attended grammar school and high school.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 1941, and participated in the Soloman Islands campaign and later in the assault on Iwo Jima, where he was awarded the Silver Star for valor in action and the Purple Heart for wounds received during the invasion. Patrolman Foote was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the field and was discharged from service in 1945.
He was recalled to active duty with the Bakersfield Marine Reserve Unit in August, 1950, to serve for a year in Korea. During this tour of duty, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
He joined the CHP in 1948.
Officer Foote left behind a wife, Audrey Agnes, and a daughter, Dianne Mary.
Bakersfield Police Officer Floyd B.D.W. Cummings died January 7, 1952 during surgery for injuries sustained after a fall while on foot patrol. He was an 8 year veteran.
On December 26, 1951, Sheriff Hal Singleton and Undersheriff Lyle Sale were enroute to Sacramento from Glenn County to pick up a prisoner. Their vehicle was struck head-on by another vehicle on Highway 99 south of Maxwell. Sheriff Singleton was killed instantly. Undersheriff Sale sustained major injuries.
Sheriff Singleton was born in Fruto, Glenn County in 1899. He enlisted in the US Army in 1917 to serve his country in World War I. After his discharge he returned to Glenn County. Singleton was elected Sheriff of Glenn County three times: 1942, 1946 and 1950. At the time of his death he was President-Elect of the California State Sheriffs Association.
Dep. Ross Cochran was killed in an automobile accident while on duty Nov. 19, 1951, while traveling northbound on Highway 99, enroute to investigate a burglary at Tagus Ranch. He struck the right side of a southbound vehicle which had crossed into the northbound lane. The accident occurred approximately 2 ½ miles north of Tulare. Dep. Cochran died while enroute to the hospital.
The occupants of the other vehicle were two Bakersfield, California brothers who had been traveling on he wrong side of the “then” two lane highway.
Deputy Ross Cochran had been a law enforcement officer for over twenty years, having been a cattle inspector, a Tulare Police officer, and acting Tulare Police Chief then a Deputy Sheriff with Tulare County. He had been with the Sheriff’s Department for approximately two months before his demise at the age of 63.
Deputy Ross Cochran born June 2, 1888 and died November 19, 1951.
On November 18, 1951, at 7:35 a.m., at 28th and San Pablo, the early morning peace was disturbed by a loud argument between an estranged husband and wife. As the man proceeded to walk away from the woman, she got into her car and drove after him. Pursuing him down the street, she jumped the curb and struck him from behind with the car. He sustained moderate injuries. Many residents of the neighborhood witnessed these events and called the police.
Officer Eugene M. Oneto was dispatched to the scene. As he drove west on MacArthur Boulevard, his red light activated and his siren blaring, he entered the Market Street intersection, and his vehicle was broadsided by a car traveling south on Market Street. Oneto’s vehicle skidded out of control and hit another object. Thrown from his vehicle, he landed with considerable force on the pavement, and died a short time later at Merritt Hospital.
Oneto had been a member of Oakland Police Department for two years at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, three children, a brother (Officer Louis Oneto), and his mother.
