San Francisco Police Department, California
End of Watch: Sunday, December 5, 1920
Age:
Tour of Duty: 13 years
Badge Number: 638
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: December 5, 1920
Weapon Used: Handgun; Revolver
Suspect Info: Hung by an angry mob
Sergeant Miles Jackson, Officer Lester Dorman and Sheriff James Petray of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department were shot and killed as they attempted to arrest four suspects in their home. The suspects had brutally attacked a group of girls in San Francisco and had been tracked to Santa Rosa. The three officers entered the home of the suspects to arrest them. One suspect was sitting on a couch, one was sitting in the corner of the same room and the other two were in the bathroom.
As the officer were placing the first two suspects under arrest the suspect sitting on the couch jumped with a revolver and shot Officer Dorman and Sheriff Petray dead. Sergeant Jackson, who was in another room rushed to the shots, but he too was shot and killed. Before he fell dead, Sergeant Jackson was able to shoot and wound one suspect.
All four suspects were arrested later in the day and brought to the local jail. An angry group of men demanded the killers be turned over to them to be hanged. After a standoff the mob finally prevailed and the suspects were dragged from their cells and hung.
Sergeant Jackson, a U.S. Navy veteran, had been with the agency for 13 years and was survived by his sister and two brothers, one a San Francisco Police Officer and the other a San Jose Police Officer. Sergeant Jackson is buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California.