Officer Down Memorial Page - http://www.odmp.org

Officer John Rhinehart
Miami Police Department, Florida

Officer

John Rhinehart "Bob" Riblet

Miami Police Department, Florida

End of Watch: Wednesday, June 2, 1915

Biographical Info

Age: 31
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details

Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: June 2, 1915
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Not available

Officer John Riblet and Deputy Wilber Hendrickson, of the Dade County Sheriff's Office, were shot and killed while attempting to prevent an escape from the Dade County Jail near the intersection of 11th Street and Avenue E.

The brother of one of the prisoners went to the Dade County Jail, knocked on the door, and shot Deputy Hendrickson when he answered it.

Officer Riblet, who was walking his beat nearby, heard the shot and immediately responded to the scene. He and the suspect exchanged shot and were both killed. The prisoner, who was the suspect's brother, was not able to escape. However, the prisoner did escape three years later and continued a life of crime with a gang of his brothers and other criminals known as the Ashley Gang.

On January 9th, 1924, the escaped member of the gang shot and killed Deputy Frederick Baker, of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, as a posse attempted to arrest them in the Everglades. One of the other gang members was also killed. The rest of the gang members were shot and killed by a posse in November 1924.