Our Brother is Gone

Today is the day my brother was laid to rest. Today at the service, many of my other brothers were present. We gather, of late, much too often like this; these brothers of mine and I.

Today, the rows and rows of blue, of green and grey, the rows of brothers; each of us with a saddened heart, a lump in our throats, and no matter how hard we try to keep it from showing, each of us with tears in our eyes. Because today my brother was laid to rest, and today we feel once again the loss of someone of whom we could be proud, to whom we could relate, someone who cared, who understood, who loved and was loved. We shall miss our brother, but we, unlike many, will not let the passing of time cause us to forget him. We, unlike many, do not forget, because today when my brother was laid to rest, so also was a part of each of us.

Words can be written and songs can be sung, but there is no way that the deep personal sense of loss, the sincere caring, the ability to relate and truly feel the loss of a brother can accurately be expressed.

My brothers have come today from close and far. My brothers have come today because they want to be here, because they feel the same deep emotional loss that I feel. No fraternal order of men can feel more genuine concern or emotion for a brother and his family than these brothers of mine.

Today, when my brother was laid to rest, I was sad and yet proud. Sad and moved by the loss of a brother. Sad and feeling for his family and friends, but proud of him for his chosen career and proud to be a member of the Brotherhood of Police.

Tomorrow, there will be other brothers of mine laid to rest. Tomorrow, there will be other widows and children to mourn their loved one, and I and my brothers know that we also will be there to mourn or perhaps be mourned. This we can accept because it is the Lord who controls the destiny of my brother and me.

Written by Retired Montgomery County Police Captain Douglas L. McFee, Sr. for the funeral of Montgomery County Police Detective Lieutenant Donald A. Robertson (March 9, 1972).

Police Officer I Luke T. Hoffman (1982-2007)

Police Officer I Luke T. Hoffman was fatally injured in an automobile accident during the early morning hours of April 25, 2007. 

Officer Hoffman was involved in the pursuit of a DWI suspect who had fled from his vehicle after crashing into a number of parked cars.  Officer Hoffman died from his injuries later that night, surrounded by friends and family. 

Officer Hoffman was 24 years old.  He was a one-year veteran of the agency, having graduated at the top of his class.  He leaves behind his parents, five siblings, and many beloved friends and co-workers who will miss him dearly.
 
 

Captain Joseph Aloysius Mattingly, Jr. (1952-2003)

On September 13, 2003, at approximately 3:30 a.m., a resident in the 7300 block of Bradley Boulevard was awakened by a noise and went outside to investigate. The resident discovered the collision at the same time as a passing motorist arrived on the scene. Together, the resident and the motorist summoned help and offered comfort to Lieutenant Mattingly until officers from the 2nd District and Fire/Rescue units arrived. Lieutenant Joseph Mattingly was transported to a local area hospital where he died from his injuries at 5:30 a.m.

The investigation revealed that Lieutenant Mattingly was traveling westbound on Bradley Boulevard just prior to the Interstate 495 overpass when, for unknown reasons, he lost control of his Ford Taurus and struck a tree.

He received a posthumous promotion to the honorary rank of Captain on September 15, 2003.  Captain Mattingly proudly served as a Montgomery County Police Officer for 28 years. 

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Police Officer III James E. Walch (1963-1994)

On Tuesday, January 25, 1994, a Montgomery County police officer began a pursuit of a stolen vehicle in the area of Briggs Chaney Road and Route 29 in Silver Spring. Police Officer III James Walch and other on-duty officers were responding to assist in the pursuit. Traveling eastbound on Randolph Road near Hammonton Road, POIII Walch's vehicle struck a patch of "black ice" on the roadway. POIII Walch's vehicle slid out of control causing the vehicle to strike—rear first—a utility pole. Upon impact, the vehicle's gas tank ruptured and burst into flames. POIII Walch was killed instantly. The driver of the stolen vehicle was a juvenile.

Thirty-year-old James Walch was a six-year veteran of the Department. POIII Walch also served four years in the Marine Corps prior to his appointment to the Department.

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Police Officer III Mark Filer (1962-1993)

Police Officer III Mark Filer died on August 24, 1993, exactly one week after an auto collision left him in critical condition with head injuries. Officer Filer had been on his way to work from his home in Damascus when his cruiser was struck, head-on, by a pickup truck that was making a left turn.

His family and fellow officers maintained a 24-hour vigil at the hospital, but he never regained consciousness. Officer Filer was 31 years old and a seven-year veteran of the Department.

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Police Officer III Philip Carl Metz (1947-1981)

At 6:55 a.m., on Friday, March 27, 1981, Silver Spring Officer Philip Metz was just beginning his day work tour of duty when he was dispatched to the W. Bell and Co. store in White Oak to meet the manager and alarm company representative and assist in checking the interior of the building. Police had been dispatched earlier when the alarm was activated but found the building secure. At 7:06 a.m., Officer Metz arrived at the store and met David Myers, the security employee, and Douglas Cummins, the assistant store manager. Together the three men entered the store. At 7:16 a.m., a backup officer arrived, found the building doors locked, and was then dispatched to another location to check out an alarm.

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Captain James E. Daly, Jr. (1933-1976) | Corporal John M. Frontczak (1943-1976)

A robbery at the Citizens Savings and Loan in Potomac at 10:12 a.m. on Friday, March 26, 1976, was broadcast by police communications with a lookout for a red Chevy Nova. Corporal John Frontczak, assigned to Bethesda Patrol, heard the lookout. Approximately five minutes later, he radioed that he was attempting to stop a car matching the description of the one just broadcast. However, the suspect vehicle did not stop, and Corporal Frontczak then indicated he was in pursuit into a field behind Montgomery Mall. Radio contact with Corporal Frontczak was then lost. A backup patrol unit arrived approximately six minutes later and radioed that two police officers had been shot. The second officer, it was learned, was Captain James E. Daly, Jr., of the Field Supervision Section, who had been close by and responded to assist Corporal Frontczak. Both were in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the head. A 19-year-old high school dropout, who was AWOL from the Army, was subsequently identified as the assailant and was arrested by the South Carolina Highway Patrol while heading south on I-95. He plead guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Captain Daly, age 43, was pronounced dead at Suburban Hospital at 9:05 p.m., on March 28, 1976, and Corporal Frontczak, age 32, was taken off life-support systems at 6 p.m., on March 29, 1976, and pronounced dead.

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Private William Patrick Conboy, Jr. (1948-1973)

An undercover drug operation at the Silver Spring Holiday Inn on December 29, 1973, resulted in a shoot-out, leaving one officer dead and his partner wounded. Officer William Conboy and his partner, Sergeant James Elkins, had a prearranged meeting with two drug dealers in the hotel's lobby and, after the customary pat-downs, proceeded to a room on the 10th floor. Backup officers were stationed nearby as the four men entered room 1022; but instead of the intended purchase of cocaine taking place, one of the dealers produced a handgun. Shots were fired and Conboy staggered from the room, shot in the chest. Entering the room, the backup squad found one of the suspects wielding a handgun and standing over Sergeant Elkins. Shots were exchanged and the suspect fell to the floor mortally wounded. Sergeant Elkins had been shot in the back and arm, but survived. Officer Conboy, however, died at Holy Cross Hospital an hour later. The 25-year-old Conboy had been an undercover officer for three years.

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Detective Lieutenant Donald A. Robertson (1937-1972)

Two gunmen robbed the Hahn's Shoe Store at Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road in Silver Spring shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 9, 1972, resulting in a patrol unit stopping a southbound suspect auto on Georgia Avenue near Wayne Avenue. The vehicle and its lone occupant were taken to the Silver Spring Station. Detective Lieutenant Donald Robertson, who had already worked the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift, voluntarily stayed over to help. At approximately 6:30 p.m., Lieutenant Robertson became suspicious that the second holdup man might be hiding in the trunk and went downstairs to search the car. As he began to take off the rear seat cushions, two shots rang out, and Lieutenant Robertson slumped in the seat. The gunman in the trunk, a 25-year-old heroin addict, was found dead a few minutes later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Lieutenant Robertson died an hour later at the Washington Sanitarium in Takoma Park of a wound to the head. The 35-year-old Lieutenant had just completed 13 years in the department that same day.

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Detective Lieutenant William H. Jessie (1921-1964)

A 20-mile-high-speed pursuit of a stolen car ended the life of Lieutenant William Jessie. It was around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 30, 1964, when patrol officers spotted a stolen car leaving a gas station on Rockville Pike near Randolph Road. They pursued the vehicle north on Rt. 355 and were joined by other units, but, at speeds nearing 100 miles per hour, the suspect elluded apprehension. Although not required to participate, Lieutenant Jessie heard the chase over his radio and managed to maneuver his cruiser in behind the stolen car as it raced north on the old, narrow two-lane road. Nearing Hyattstown, Lieutenant Jessie lost control of his 1964 Plymouth detective cruiser as it topped a slightly curving hill and ran off the roadway. The cruiser overturned and caught fire. Seconds later, patrol officers arrived on the scene and were able to extricate Lieutenant Jessie from the wreck. He was transported to Suburban Hospital where he died at 7:05 p.m. of multiple injuries. The stolen car was located abandoned on Route 109 near Comus. A canine team tracked to another abandoned car in the field where the 17-year-old suspect was found hiding in the trunk. The 43-year-old lieutenant, a ten year veteran of the force, was in charge of the Rockville Detective Bureau and had been named Policeman of the Year in 1963.

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Private Robert L. McAllister (1927-1952)

Less than a block away from the Silver Spring Police Station on a Sunday afternoon, November 23, 1952, Officer Robert McAllister was shot to death by a prisoner he had arrested for reckless and drunken driving. It was shortly before 4 p.m. when Officer McAllister, enroute to work, made the arrest at 16th Street and Colesville Road. Leaving the violator's car there, Officer McAllister was driving his prisoner to the station in his personal car when he was shot three times at Colesville Road and Ramsey Avenue. His car swerved out of control, striking a car and road signs before coming to rest against the curb. The prisoner, bleeding profusely as a result of the crash, fled the scene and commandeered a ride back to his own car but was detained by citizens who had witnessed the incident. When taken into custody again, the 38-year-old Bethesda man was found to be armed with two handguns and was determined to be a narcotics addict. Officer McAllister was dead on the scene. The 25-year-old officer had been on the force two years.

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Private David G. Bissett (1897-1952)

A fire call on Dallas Avenue in Silver Spring on Tuesday, September 30, 1952, brought Officer David Bissett south on Piney Branch Road with the siren and red light operating on his cruiser. An accident happened at Old Bladensburg Road just before 2 p.m. when a Hyattsville woman drove her car into the intersection, striking the police car. The impact spun the police car around, throwing Bissett to the pavement. The 55-year-old patrolman was taken to Washington Sanitarium in Takoma Park where he died of his injuries at 2 a.m. the following morning. The woman was charged with failing to yield the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle.

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Patrolman James E. Shoemaker (1889-1938)

Patrolman James Shoemaker was off duty the night of February 4, 1938, when he attempted to eject a disorderly woman from a beer hall on Conduit Road (MacArthur Boulevard) in Glen Echo. According to eyewitnesses, the 49-year-old patrolman was kicked during the scuffle and fell to the ground. Following his collapse, he was transported to Georgetown Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. He was known to have suffered from a heart ailment, and the cause of death was, in all probability, attributed to a heart attack. Shoemaker had been in the department eight years and was assigned to the Bethesda substation. The 45-year-old woman he was scuffling with was charged with manslaughter.

Patrolman Webb S. Hersperger (1902-1933)

The fatal accident which took the life of Patrolman Webb Hersperger occurred on a Sunday morning, about 7:30 a.m., June 18, 1933, on the Rockville-Darnestown Road near Quince Orchard. The 31-year-old patrolman had left his home in Poolesville operating his police motorcycle and was enroute to work at the Bethesda substation when he was confronted by a passing vehicle coming towards him, and he collided head-on with the automobile. Hersperger was killed instantly when he was thrown through the windshield of the automobile. The other driver was transported to Montgomery General Hospital for treatment and was ultimately charged with manslaughter and reckless driving by Officer John Butts who had come along within minutes. Ironically, Officer Hersperger knew the operator of the car. Officer Hersperger had been commended often for outstanding service, including a time when he leaped on the running board of a getaway car from a moving police car and arrested two men who had been preying on motorists in Rock Creek Park.

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Patrolman Joseph Asbury Case (1886-1928)

The first police fatality occurred about 9 p.m. on Sunday, December 16, 1928 when 42-year-old Patrolman Joseph Case was operating his motorcycle with a sidecar south on Rockville Pike about a mile north of Bethesda when he crashed into the rear of an automobile which had stopped momentarily on the roadway. The two young men in the auto had stopped to change drivers and were standing outside when the crash occurred. They immediately placed the injured officer in their car and drove him to Georgetown Hospital, where he died of a fractured skull at 1 a.m. on December 17 without regaining consciousness. Although the two young men were detained by Washington Police, no charges were placed when the State's Attorney ruled the accident unavoidable.