Petersburg Bureau of Police, Virginia
End of Watch: Sunday, February 6, 1916
Age: 36
Tour of Duty: 7 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Assault
Date of Incident: February 6, 1916
Weapon Used: Blunt object
Suspect Info: Shot and killed
Patrol Officer Robert Beasley was assaulted while using a police call box at the corner of Halifax Street and Mistletoe Street.
He was reporting he had a man under arrest who had robbed a woman earlier of her groceries she had bought as she left the store. At about 3:45 am when the line suddenly went dead, officers went to his location and found his body. His head had been beaten to a point that he was unrecognizable.
The suspect, who openly bragged about what he had done, found himself surrounded in a house near Poe Station by several Petersburg policemen three nights later. As he tried to escape he was shot several times and killed.
Officer Beasley had served with the Petersburg Police Department for only seven months.