Officer Richard L. Simpson

---

Officer Richard L. Simpson, 30, was responding to the scene of an automobile accident in Porterville when a motorist turned in front of the officer and struck his motorcycle broadside.

The impact flung the patrolman to the ground, killed him almost instantly. The driver was jailed and booked for manslaughter.

Simpson, a World War II veteran, had recently returned to duty with the department after three years of service in the U.S. Army.