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.

Officer Kenneth L. Witke was patrolling in West Los Angeles when a vehicle made a left turn in front of him without signaling. Witke was unable to brake and avoid a fatal collision. The 50-year-old patrolman was a 17-year veteran of the Highway Patrol with prior law enforcement service that included a stint as a U.S. Army MP and a state policeman assigned to the Department of Finance.

Sergeant William D. Huckaby was attempting to save the lives of three small children who had climbed onto a slow-moving freight train passing through South Los Angeles. As Huckaby rode his motorcycle down the railroad right-of-way to catch the train, he struck a cable that had been stretched between two posts. The 33-year-old sergeant sustained critical injuries and died four days later. He had been a member of the Patrol for seven years.

Officer Ralph A. Minion was killed when a motorist, trying to avoid rear-ending a slow-moving truck, swerved over the center divider and crashed head-on into Minion’s motorcycle. Minion did not have a chance to swerve or brake and was killed instantly.

Officer Merle E. DeWitt was on his way home from holiday patrol duty when his motorcycle collided with an out-of-control car on the Santa Ana Freeway. The car, driven by an airman stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, hit the center divider, spun out, hit another vehicle and then crashed into DeWitt’s motorcycle. The 50-year-old patrolman, the 20-year-old driver and his 21-year-old passenger were all killed instantly. Officer DeWitt was a 21-year veteran of the CHP.