Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy John Slobojan was assigned to the Temple Sheriff’s Station at the time of his death. Deputy Slobojan was in foot pursuit of a juvenile robbery suspect for several minutes when he was observed stumbling to the ground. When asked by citizens if he needed assistance, he declined, got up and walked a few feet before falling again. At that time his partner caught up with Deputy Slobojan in their patrol car and found him unconscious. His partner attempted to revive Slobojan but he did not respond. An ambulance was called while fellow deputies continued administering CPR. At the hospital, doctors worked on him for fifteen minutes before declaring him dead. Deputy Slobojan was only thirty-years-old. Injuries sustained in an on-duty traffic collision ten months earlier may have contributed to his death.
Archives: Fallen Officers
Charles O. Woodworth
Officer Charles 0. Woodworth was on patrol July 27, 1964 and had just pulled away from a stop sign when his motorcycle was struck broadside by an automobile. Woodworth sustained serious leg injuries from the impact of the crash, but his condition did not appear life-threatening. As he was recovering, Officer Woodworth suffered a fatal embolism attributed to the accident two weeks earlier.
Lloyd G. Constantine
Reserve Deputy Lloyd Constantine was assigned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department West Hollywood Station at the time of his death. Reserve Deputy Constantine and Deputy Claude Rosenthal were on patrol in West Hollywood when a drunk driver ran a stop sign and broadsided their patrol car. Deputy Constantine was a scenic film artist who spent nearly all his spare time working as a Reserve Deputy. Deputy Constantine died on his 42nd birthday.
Willard Ballard
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Detective Sergeant William Ballard was assigned to the East Los Angeles Station at the time of his death. Detective Sergeant Ballard received information regarding an old burglary case at an afternoon staff briefing. He gathered some old files and headed for an informant’s house. En route, Ballard, who was 50 years old, suffered a heart attack. Witnesses saw him slumped over the steering wheel as he drifted through an intersection, hitting a signal light standard. He was treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital. An emergency tracheotomy was performed at 10:00 p.m., but he succumbed early the next morning.
James F. Stamback
Officer James F. Stamback had just parked his patrol car behind an automobile he stopped because its load of lumber was protruding beyond the legal limit. The patrolman was talking to the driver when, without warning, a two-ton flatbed truck suddenly barreled down on the scene, hitting the patrol car and pushing it into the other vehicle. Stamback received critical injuries from the impact and died 13 days later. The 39-year-old patrolman had been a member of the CHP for nine years.
William A. White
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy William White was assigned to Firestone Park Station in the south-central area of Los Angeles County at the time of his death. At 5:27 a.m. Deputy White and Deputy Robert Melendez received a disturbance call in the Firestone area. They were en route when hit by another car. Another unit, responding as backup to the disturbance call, saw lights in the distance, but were unaware of the traffic collision. While taking the report at the original location, the victims gave the assisting deputies the license number of the getaway vehicle. This vehicle was the one that struck the patrol car occupied by Deputies Melendez and White. Deputy White was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood where he succumbed to his injuries at 9:40 a.m.
Charles M. Ross
Charles P. Monaghan
Robert M. Endler
Coburn Brasilio Jewell
Officer Coburn Brasilio Jewell had parked his patrol car on the highway shoulder with the amber light burning. Jewell was sitting on the passenger side of the front seat when a motorist lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the parked patrol car. The motorist’s vehicle was traveling at 50 m.p.h. when it struck and the force of the impact killed Officer Jewell.