Patrolman Michael J. Hahnel

Michael J. Hahnel

Patrolman Michael Hahnel was shot and killed while transporting two men to jail.

He and another officer had stopped a car for speeding, at Moreland Boulevard and Lee Road, and placed the two men under arrest. Unbeknownst to the officers, the two men were driving a stolen car and had just robbed a gas station. Patrolman Hahnel was riding in the backseat of their car, which was being driven to the police station, when one of the occupants suddenly turned and shot him. The two then threw his body into a field on Ashwood Road, near East 140th Street, and fled.

Patrolman Hahnel succumbed to his wounds four days later.

One of the suspects was executed for Patrolman Hahnel's murder on April 24th, 1925. The other suspect was sentenced to life.

Patrolman Hahnel had served with the Shaker Heights Police Department for one year. He is buried in St Mary's Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio. He was survived by his father and seven siblings.