Hazen Police Department, Arkansas
End of Watch: Monday, April 29, 1974
Age: 51
Tour of Duty: 6 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: April 29, 1974
Weapon Used: Officer's handgun
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Patrolman Greenwalt was shot and killed after stopping three female robbery suspects on Interstate 40, wanted in Brinkley, Arkansas, for the armed robbery of a grocery store.
One of the suspects shot him after stopping them in a pick-up truck they had stolen in Nashville, Tennessee. Then another one took Patrolman Greenwalt's service weapon and fired all of its rounds into him as he lay helpless on the ground.
All three suspects, 19, 23, and 24, were arrested later the same day. All three had escaped from the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women two days earlier. The two older suspects blamed the 19-year-old for killing Patrolman Greenwalt. But a chemical test on their hands showed that they both had fired a weapon, and the 19-year-old had not. Both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life. The 19-year-old was convicted of accessory to murder and sentenced to 11 years. As of December 14, 2022, both murderers were in McPherson Prison.
Patrolman Greenwalt had served with the Hazen Police Department for six years. He was survived by his wife and two children.