Patrolman Garner M. Robertson, Jr.

August 8 2019

Fallen Valley View Ohio Police Officer is remembered 63 years after he was killed in the line of duty

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The daughter of a Valley View police officer has never forgotten her father’s sacrifice and honored him with a donation that might one day save the life of another law enforcement officer.

According to a social media post on the Richmond Heights Police Department Facebook page Mrs. Doris Robertson, 82, wrote a $200 check for the K-9 fundraising effort.

Robertson’s father was Garner M. Robertson, killed in the line of duty on July 8, 1956 while responding to a domestic call.

Robertson wrote in a typed letter that the donation was “to honor my Dad and also hope a smart well trained dog might save the life of one of your police officers.”

“What a beautiful tribute to Mrs. Robertson’s hero father,” one person wrote.

According to his daughter, Robertson, 45, had been hired to work part-time on the weekend for $1.50 an hour for the Valley View Police Department.

The Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Society provided a description of the events that led to his death.

On Saturday, July 5, 1956 an ex-convict, Norman Walker, had taken a woman hostage and was parked on Brookside Road.

Patrolman Robertson and his partner found the stopped vehicle.

Garner Robertson approached the car and was gunned down.

Walker escaped during the chaos and the search for him became one of the “most intensive manhunts in Cuyahoga County history."

Police from 20 suburbs, and a 200 man posse searched until they found Walker who surrendered to police.

Robertson’s name is displayed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

Retired Police Officer
New York Police Department

August 9, 2019