California Highway Patrol, California
End of Watch: Wednesday, December 25, 1963
Age: 50
Tour of Duty: 21 years
Badge Number: 534
Cause of Death: Motorcycle crash
Date of Incident: December 24, 1963
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Officer Merle DeWitt was killed when his police motorcycle was struck head-on by an out of control vehicle.
He was returning home from holiday patrol duty when the vehicle struck him on the Santa Ana Freeway at the Rio Hondo overpass, in Commerce.
Officer DeWitt had served with the California Highway Patrol for 21 years.