Berkeley County Sheriff's Office, West Virginia
End of Watch: Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Age: 28
Tour of Duty: 1 year
Badge Number: U-130
Cause of Death: Automobile crash
Date of Incident: January 31, 2001
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: Not available
Deputy Sheriff John Burkett was killed in a head-on collision on I-81 near mile marker 5 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
He and another deputy were extraditing a prisoner from Pennsylvania back to West Virginia when the crash occurred. The car which struck the patrol car had entered the highway by driving up an exit ramp. On the exit ramp, the vehicle passed a Pennsylvania State Police trooper who immediately turned around in an attempt to stop it. The vehicle then struck the patrol car that Deputy Burkett was riding in.
Deputy Burkett, who was in the passenger seat and wearing a seatbelt, succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The other deputy, the prisoner, and the driver who caused the crash were all injured.
Deputy Burkett had served with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office for just over one year. He is survived by his parents.
In 2014 a section of West Virginia Route 901 was renamed the Deputy John L. Burkett III Memorial Highway in his memory.