Cincinnati Police Department, Ohio
End of Watch: Tuesday, November 30, 1948
Age: 25
Tour of Duty: 7 months
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Motorcycle crash
Date of Incident: November 30, 1948
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Patrolman Lewis Hall was killed in a motorcycle crash while on duty on Queen City Avenue.
At 1:50 p.m. that afternoon, Patrolman Hall paced a speeding car and activated his lights and his siren as they traveled outbound on Queen City Avenue. The car did not pull over. In the 2300 block, just past Sunset Avenue, the car and motorcycle were side-by-side. The driver of the car veered right, forcing the motorcycle off the road, but Patrolman Hall dodged the obstacles and came back onto the road to continue the pursuit. He crashed the motorcycle into a utility pole at 2450 Queen City Avenue. There were no witnesses to the crash, but it seemed likely that he was forced off the road again.
He was pronounced dead at the scene from a broken neck, fractures of his right hip and leg, a crushed chest, a fractured skull, and internal injuries. The driver of the speeding car was never identified.
Patrolman Hall was a United States Navy WWII veteran and had served with the Cincinnati Police Department for only seven months. He was survived by his wife.