On Saturday afternoon, June 2, 1950, Officer James S. Weir, 33, was assigned as the second officer on an Oakland Police Department ambulance. When a call was broadcast reporting a robbery in progress and shooting on 28th Street, Weir and his partner sped southbound on West Street with their red light shining and siren screaming.
The police ambulance entered the intersection of West and MacArthur Boulevard at the same time as another responding police vehicle. The two cars collided, and Weir was thrown from the ambulance. He head struck the curb and died instantly.
On April 29, 1950, Constable Oliver P. Mitchell died of a cerebral hemorrhage, the result of being struck in the head approximately one year earlier by an arrestee while transporting the prisoner to Fresno County Jail.
Born on February 1, 1888, Mitchell was a native of DeKalb County, Missouri. He resided in Laton for eighteen years and was Constable of the Laton Judicial District for twelve of those years. He also operated a garage business. Mitchell was a member of numerous fraternal organizations and the Fresno County Peace Officer’s Association.
On May 2, 1950, Masonic funeral services were held at the People’s Undertaking Parlor in Hanford, internment followed at Fowler Cemetary. Constable Mitchell was survived by his wife Alice, daughters Mary Ann and Belle, and six foster children he raised as his own.
Officer Alvin Foss, 23, was preparing to go on duty when his revolver fell from its holster, struck the concrete floor, and discharged a round that struck the officer in the head. The weapon apparently fell on the back of the handle, jarring the firing pin firmly enough to trigger the fatal bullet. Foss joined the CHP a year earlier and had recently transferred to duty on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge from Los Angeles.
Officer Jesse M. Ream was riding his motorcycle in pursuit of a traffic violator on February 28, 1950, when he struck another vehicle that was making a U-turn in front of him. Ream was dead on arrival.
