Patrolman Otis Lee "Sonny" Robison

Otis Lee "Sonny" Robison

Patrolman Robison and Patrolman Allen Harmon were shot and killed after making a traffic stop on I-20 and arresting a man for drunk driving. The suspect was driving a stolen car and had escaped from the Calhoun County Jail on January 26, 1974, while awaiting an appeal of a four year sentence for burglary. While en route to Talladega on Alabama 77 to give the man a sobriety test, he produced a pistol and shot Patrolman Robison, who was beside him in the back seat. He then shot Patrolman Harmon in the front seat. A third officer, who was driving, exchanged gunfire with the suspect as he fled into a woods. The suspect was apprehended at a Birmingham motel ten days later.

On April 18, 1975, the 35-year-old suspect was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life. In November of 1980 he escaped from prison. Later that month he was apprehended in Mount Vernon, Illinois. He died in prison on January 22, 2006.

Patrolman Robison was survived by his wife.