Trooper Dale August Van Vooren

Dale August Van Vooren

Trooper Dale Van Vooren was killed in an automobile accident as a result of a mechanical failure in his squad car.

On what normally would have been his day off, Trooper Van Vooren was working a special holiday patrol on Saturday, December 29, 1962, with Trooper Darrel Vandenore. When the two first came on duty, they noticed that the accelerator was sticking when they first began their shift. They took the vehicle to a service station and had a spring replaced. They headed back on the road.

The repair did not fix the problem and afterwards, the problem was found to be a malfunctioning carburetor linkage. Accelerating to pursue a speeder, the two troopers were driving on Highway 6, about a mile east of Annawan, when the carburetor stuck wide open. The squad car spun out of control, struck a culvert, skidded across the highway and overturned. Trooper Van Vooren was thrown through the windshield. He died of head injuries at St. Francis Hospital in Kewanee. His partner, although seriously injured, survived and returned to duty.

Trooper Van Vooren was a U.S Navy veteran and served with the Illinois State Police for five years. He was assigned to District 7, Rock Island. His wife and three children survive.