MANSFIELD OFFICER DIES IN HIT-RUN

The Dallas Morning News

May 24, 1986

Edition: HOME FINAL
Section: NEWS
Page: 33A

Topics:
Index Terms:
TRAFFIC FATALITIES

MANSFIELD OFFICER DIES IN HIT-RUN

Trailer on loose strikes motorcycle patrolman
Author: Bobette Riner; Mid-Cities Bureau of The News The Dallas Morning News (DAL) + _____

Dateline: MANSFIELD

Article Text:

A 45-year-old motorcycle patrol officer was killed Friday morning when a cargo trailer snapped loose from an oncoming pickup truck and hit him head-on, police said.

Dan C. Cordes, a 20-year police veteran, became the first Mansfield officer killed in the line of duty. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Harris Hospital-Methodist in Fort Worth, where he was taken by CareFlite helicopter shortly after the 10:15 a.m. incident on Broad Street near U.S. Highway 287.

Authorities conducted a manhunt Friday for the driver of the pickup truck, who fled the scene and abandoned the truck about a half-mile from the accident site.

Investigators were attempting to verify late Friday whether the man is an escapee from a prison near Kansas City, Mo., said Deputy Chief Marvin Ivy.

Cordes was westbound on his motorcycle on Broad Street when the pickup, a 1959 Chevrolet Apache, approached on the two-lane street and the trailer broke loose, striking the officer, police said.

Witnesses told police the pickup continued without stopping and turned south on U.S. 287. Police found the pickup on the shoulder of the highway.

Investigators said that although the incident appeared to be unintentional, the truck driver made no effort to stop afterward.

Police said they were preparing an arrest warrant for the man for failure to stop and render aid. He apparently had used the trailer to help a woman move to a Mansfield apartment complex this week. A similar warrant was being prepared against the woman, who owns the truck, police said.

The Dallas and Fort Worth police helicopters were enlisted to help authorities from Arlington, Crowley, Tarrant County and Johnson County search nearby open fields where the driver apparently escaped on foot.

As officers from Mansfield's 19-member police force searched for the man, some took time to comfort Cordes' family and remember their colleague.

Cordes, Mansfield's first and only full-time motorcycle officer, was appreciated for his friendly nature and sense of humor, friends and colleagues said.

"Even if he wrote you a ticket, you'd walk away liking him,' said patrol Sgt. D.W. Simon.

"You won't find anybody in this town who would say anything bad about him -- even before he died,' Ivy said. "In my six years here, we never got a complaint against Officer Cordes.'

Several officers visited Cordes' home Friday to comfort his widow, Linda, and children Cindy, 18, and Todd, 14.

One officer, P. Pierce, who stayed with the family, said Cordes saw her through what could have been a difficult situation -- being the department's first female police officer.

"He taught me what being a good police officer is all about,' she said. "He was my partner, my friend, my inspiration -- and like a father to me.'

Officer Pierce said Cordes loved motorcycles so much that he moonlighted as a funeral escort "every chance he could.' He also taught her how to ride a motorcycle.

"That man was poetry in motion. No one could ride a motorcycle like him,' she said. "Whatever I do, Dan's always going to be with me. He's going to survive in the minds and hearts of everyone.'

Copyright 1986 The Dallas Morning News Company
Record Number: DAL230964

MANSFIELD OFFICER DIES IN HIT-RUN Trailer on loose strikes motorcycle patrolman

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The Dallas Morning News May 24, 1986
Edition: HOME FINAL Section: NEWS Page: 33A

Topics:

Index Terms:
TRAFFIC FATALITIES

MANSFIELD OFFICER DIES IN HIT-RUN Trailer on loose strikes motorcycle patrolman

Author: Bobette Riner; Mid-Cities Bureau of The News The Dallas Morning News (DAL) + _____

Dateline: MANSFIELD

Article Text:A 45-year-old motorcycle patrol officer was killed Friday morning when a cargo trailer snapped loose from an oncoming pickup truck and hit him head-on, police said.

Dan C. Cordes, a 20-year police veteran, became the first Mansfield officer killed in the line of duty. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Harris Hospital-Methodist in Fort Worth, where he was taken by CareFlite helicopter shortly after the 10:15 a.m. incident on Broad Street near U.S. Highway 287.

Authorities conducted a manhunt Friday for the driver of the pickup truck, who fled the scene and abandoned the truck about a half-mile from the accident site.

Investigators were attempting to verify late Friday whether the man is an escapee from a prison near Kansas City, Mo., said Deputy Chief Marvin Ivy. Cordes was westbound on his motorcycle on Broad Street when the pickup, a 1959 Chevrolet Apache, approached on the two-lane street and the trailer broke loose, striking the officer, police said.

Witnesses told police the pickup continued without stopping and turned south on U.S. 287. Police found the pickup on the shoulder of the highway. Investigators said that although the incident appeared to be unintentional, the truck driver made no effort to stop afterward. Police said they were preparing an arrest warrant for the man for failure to stop and render aid.

He apparently had used the trailer to help a woman move to a Mansfield apartment complex this week. A similar warrant was being prepared against the woman, who owns the truck, police said. The Dallas and Fort Worth police helicopters were enlisted to help authorities from Arlington, Crowley, Tarrant County and Johnson County search nearby open fields where the driver apparently escaped on foot.

As officers from Mansfield's 19-member police force searched for the man, some took time to comfort Cordes' family and remember their colleague. Cordes, Mansfield's first and only full-time motorcycle officer, was appreciated for his friendly nature and sense of humor, friends and colleagues said. "Even if he wrote you a ticket, you'd walk away liking him,' said patrol Sgt. D.W. Simon.

"You won't find anybody in this town who would say anything bad about him -- even before he died,' Ivy said. "In my six years here, we never got a complaint against Officer Cordes.' Several officers visited Cordes' home Friday to comfort his widow, Linda, and children Cindy, 18, and Todd, 14. One officer, P. Pierce, who stayed with the family, said Cordes saw her through what could have been a difficult situation -- being the department's first female police officer. "He taught me what being a good police officer is all about,' she said.

"He was my partner, my friend, my inspiration -- and like a father to me.' Officer Pierce said Cordes loved motorcycles so much that he moonlighted as a funeral escort "every chance he could.' He also taught her how to ride a motorcycle.

"That man was poetry in motion. No one could ride a motorcycle like him,' she said. "Whatever I do, Dan's always going to be with me. He's going to survive in the minds and hearts of everyone.'

Copyright 1986 The Dallas Morning News Company

Record Number: DAL230964

Corrections Officer Dies When Trailer Comes Loose, Strikes Car

POSTED: 6:25 pm EDT March 27, 2008

UPDATED: 6:52 pm EDT March 27, 2008

He put his life in danger every day on the
job, but a South Jersey corrections officer lost his life in a way he probably never imagined.

The Millville man was killed in a deadly crash while driving home from work Wednesday night in Maurice River Township, Cumberland County.

New Jersey state police spent Thursday morning making their way through the mangled metal of Lloyd Lovell's 2002 Ford F150.The 51-year-old married father was driving home around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday from his job as a senior corrections officer at the Southern State Correctional Facility.

State police said Lovell's pickup was heading northbound when an enclosed trailer broke free from a Comcast bucket truck and crushed Lovell on the driver's side, killing him instantly.New Jersey state police said both Lovell and the driver of the Comcast truck were traveling in opposite directions on Route 47.

It is unclear how the trailer, hitched to the back of the bucket truck, came loose.State police said they are continuing to look at the metal attachment that was supposed to keep the truck and trailer together.The driver of the Comcast truck, Douglas Whilden, did not answer the door at his Vineland home Thursday.Whilden has not been charged.Comcast has not returned calls for comment.

Police Officer Hurt!!

Runaway Trailer Hits Kingsland Cruiser, Injures Officer

KINGSLAND, Ga. -- A police officer was injured Tuesday morning when a trailer came off a work truck and slammed into his Kingsland Police Department cruiser.Police said Officer Calvin Bell was directing traffic at the intersection of Laurel Island Parkway and Bristol Hammock and had just gotten back in his patrol car at 8:10 a.m. when the trailer being towed by a fencing company truck came lose and struck the car's rear passenger door.Bell was transported to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center, were he was treated and released.The police car was totaled.The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the crash and charges are pending.

POSTED: 10:37 am EDT May 24, 2007

Puget Sound area were riding in formation as part of a motorcycle officer training session when he was struck by a truck pulling a utility trailer th

Puget Sound area were riding in formation as part of a motorcycle officer training session when he was struck by a truck pulling a utility trailer that crossed the center line.

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Scott Dilworth, who grew up in Corvallis and now works as a police officer in Lynnwood, Wash., was injured Tuesday night in an incident that investigators are considering a hit-and-run collision.

Dilworth, 33, remained hospitalized Thursday at Harborview Medical Center after sustaining broken bones in the collision. None of the injuries is considered life-threatening. He is the son of John and Julie Dilworth of Corvallis.

According to officials, Scott Dilworth and several other motorcycle officers from the Puget Sound area were riding in formation as part of a motorcycle officer training session when he was struck by a truck pulling a utility trailer that crossed the center line. Another officer, from the city of Snohomish, also was involved and sustained minor injuries.

The suspected driver was arrested and booked by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office on two counts of felony hit and run and vehicular assault, according to the Lynnwood Police Department.

Bill would name stretch of highway to honor Ziegler

Bill would name stretch of highway to honor Ziegler

By LEROY SIGMAN\Daily Journal Staff Writer

A bill has been introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives by State Rep. Dan Ward, D-Bonne Terre, to name the stretch of U.S. 67 between Leadington and Desloge in honor of a St. Francois County deputy sheriff who was fatally injured in a traffic accident there nearly three years ago.

If the legislation is adopted, that stretch of U.S. 67 between Highway 32 and Highway 8 will be named the "Deputy Steven R. Ziegler Memorial Highway."

Ziegler was in his patrol car heading south on U.S. 67 on the morning of Sept. 29, 2001, when a utility trailer broke loose from a northbound sport utility vehicle. The trailer slammed into Ziegler's car. The 32-year-old officer died the following day at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis.

Before he ever became a road deputy, while still a jailer for Sheriff Dan Bullock, Ziegler was given the nickname "Chachi." It came from a character on the old television series "Happy Days" and stuck with him after he became a road officer.

Ziegler was the father of four children. His wife and children became the first in our county to benefit from the recently formed St. Francois County chapter of the Backstoppers. That is an organization that provides financial assistance and moral support to the survivors of law enforcement officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty.

Ward said he feels it only appropriate that the stretch of highway on which Ziegler was fatally injured be named in honor of the officer. There has already been significant support for the proposal from within the community.

There has also been legislative support shown for the measure. Seven other lawmakers have joined Ward as cosponsors of the bill. Included in those are State Rep. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, and State Rep. J.C. Kuessner, D-Eminence.

In order to gain further support, or at least lessen the opposition based on fiscal reasons, a provision in Ward's bill calls for the costs to be paid through private donations. He said the Missouri Department of Transportation has indicated the signs needed to designate the highway in Ziegler's name will cost about $800.

Already, Ward said Sunday night, one fraternal organization has indicated it will make a substantial donation toward those costs. He said Bullock also suggested organizations connected to his department, such as the St. Francois County Sheriff's Association, will probably be more than willing to raise money for the signs.

The bill has been assigned to the House Transportation and Motor Vehicles Committee, but no hearing date has been set. It was only two weeks ago that Ward filed the bill and he said it may come up for hearing in the committee sometime in early March.

Ward is confident the bill will be approved and quickly added, "If it doesn't go through, I will be raising the roof down there." He was referring to the State Capitol.

Generally, bills such as this one draw little opposition in the General Assembly so long as outside funding covers the cost of the signs. Ward said this is a positive way of paying respect to an officer who has made the supreme sacrifice.

"I think it is a great idea," Bullock said of Ward's bill. "There is not hardly a day that someone in the department does not say something in regard to Steve. Despite all the joking and ribbing, he was one of best officers this department has had."

Even at age 32, Ziegler looked much younger and took a lot of kidding from fellow officers, including the sheriff. At the same time, he was a "take charge" kind of officer who would not shy away from any situation and one that other officers wanted with them in virtually any situation.

Bullock recalled that Ziegler pestered him for three years to hire him and when he put Steve on as a reserve deputy Ziegler worked more hours than his full-time officers.

"I had reservations about him when he started," Bullock admits, "but he proved me wrong and turned out to be one of my best officers."

At Ziegler's funeral, Rev. Alan Berry said, "Steve represented what's good about this country ... what's good about America."

The respect fellow officers had for Ziegler was reflected in the fact that more than 200 law enforcement vehicles were in the funeral procession.

Ziegler is not the only law enforcement officer for which such an honor has been proposed. A stretch of Interstate 55 in Perry County has been named the Trooper Jimmie E. Linegar Memorial Highway. The Highway Patrol trooper was killed 19 years ago during a routine traffic stop on I-55.

Ward said he will also be introducing a bill to honor another fallen officer with local ties, Trooper Jesse R. Jenkins.

Jenkins, who had lived in Desloge, was killed on Oct. 14, 1969, in the office of Montgomery County Sheriff Clarence Landrum by a man they had arrested the previous night. While the sheriff was on the telephone, Robert M. Thomas grabbed the sheriff's gun. Jenkins and Thomas exchange gunfire and both suffered fatal chest wounds.

At age 29, Jenkins had been a trooper with the Highway Patrol for two years at the time of his death. He left a wife and two sons.

It is Ward's intention to propose that the stretch of U.S. 67 between Desloge and Bonne Terre be named the Trooper Jesse R. Jenkins Memorial Highway in honor of the fallen officer.

The lawmaker could not say exactly when that bill will be introduced. As with the bill honoring Ziegler, Ward said he would like to have some public support lined up to cover the cost before proceeding with the measure.

Updated Monday, Feb 23, 2004 - 10:48:36 am CST

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