Corporal John Lawrence Pierce

John Lawrence Pierce

Corporal John Pierce died as a result of injuries sustained nine months earlier while conducting an undercover narcotics investigation at Whittier College.

He was leaving a dormitory when two security guards, who had received a complaint about a man harassing students, accosted him in a case of mistaken identity. The security guards shoved him into a parked car which resulted in Officer Pierce suffering a broken neck.

Both security guards were charged with felony assault but were later acquitted.