Officer Richard Alan Maxwell, California Highway Patrol, California

Officer Richard Alan Maxwell

California Highway Patrol, California

End of Watch Monday, July 11, 1994

Richard Alan Maxwell

Officer Richard Maxwell was shot and killed as he made a traffic stop in front of the suspect's house. As he was waiting for backup to arrive the suspect and his father both began to attack him. The father ran into the open garage to retrieve a shotgun and while doing so the suspect shot Officer Maxwell in the face and, as he sat on the driveway, was shot in the throat. CPR was administered but he later died at a local hospital.

The father was sentenced to life and the son, who was 16-years-old at the time, was released after serving only a short jail sentence. On May 9th, 2006, the suspect was convicted of manslaughter during a retrial. He was sentenced to time served and released.

Officer Maxwell had served with the California Highway Patrol for five years. He was survived by his wife, daugther, parents, sister, brother, and grandmother. He is buried in Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery, Bakersfield, California.

Bio

Age 33
Tour 5 years
Badge 12788

Incident Details

Cause Gunfire
Weapon Shotgun
Offender Released in 2006

traffic stop

Most Recent Reflection

View all 48 Reflections

Dear Maxwell family
My deepest condolencies to you all.
My name is Brian and i live in Denmark. I spend time in Bakersfield on that sad day i July 1994 visiting a relative, and I followed the tragic case very close. I was 20 years old then. To this day I even keep the newspapers from then.
Before this happened I thought I was going to work with accounting or someting like that. The death of Richard made me think otherwise, and since 1998 I've been with the Danish Police force. First as a patrol officer and since as detective. I don't know how and why this made such an impact on me, but it really became a turning point of my life. I wanted to do something for everyone instead of myself. I often think of you and especially Richards daughter. I hope your're all doing good despite what happened.
Sincerely
Brian

Brian Falk, Detective Inspector
Danish Police Force

July 8, 2016