Deputy Ralph K. Butler
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office
Arizona
End of Watch: Tuesday, June 13, 1972

Biographical Info
Age: Not available
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Automobile accident
Date of Incident: Tuesday, June 13, 1972
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available

Deputy Butler was killed when his patrol car was struck by a tractor-trailer. Deputy Butler received a radio call for assistance at fatal accident. After turning his car around off the pavement, he pulled back on the road directly in the path of a large tractor-trailer rig.

Pinned in the wreckage, Deputy Butler waited more than an hour and a half for an ambulance to come from Phoenix because the local emergency vehicles were in service twenty-five miles away at the earlier accident. After emergency treatment in Wickenburg Deputy Butler was taken by helicopter to Phoenix for surgery, but the next evening he died of injuries received in the collision.