Officer Harless of the Riverbank Police Department had just come on-duty at 11:00 PM and cheked out a store at the intersection of Palmer Ave and Patterson Rd. He was turning left from Palmer to go west on Patterson and was unaware that CHP officers were pursuing a suspect, Sergio Chapa Caleron, 28, who had sideswiped a CHP vehicle minutes before.
Calderons vehicle smashed into Officer Harless at an estimated 80 MPH with, as CHP Officers Ralph Maybee and Tom Munth described, an impact of a "bomb-like explosion". The CHP officers and a citizen were unsuccessful in extracating Officer Harless from the flaming wreckage of his patrol car before it became fully engulfed. Calderon was in critical condition and was charged with manslaughter.
Officer Harless was a police reserve five years before joining the department full time in 1957. He left the force for 18 months in 1963 to become a partner in a Riverbank service station operation and then returned to police work.
He was survived by his wife, Georgia, four sons, one daughter, one grandchild and his parents.
His wife, father, mother and brother are buried near him in this cemetery.
Officer Harless is honored at the Stanislaus County Peace Officer Memorial in Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, The California State Peace Officer Memorial in Sacramento, CA, and the National Peace Officer Memorial in Washington, D.C., Panel 48-E, Line 6.
Calderons vehicle smashed into Officer Harless at an estimated 80 MPH with, as CHP Officers Ralph Maybee and Tom Munth described, an impact of a "bomb-like explosion". The CHP officers and a citizen were unsuccessful in extracating Officer Harless from the flaming wreckage of his patrol car before it became fully engulfed. Calderon was in critical condition and was charged with manslaughter.
Officer Harless was a police reserve five years before joining the department full time in 1957. He left the force for 18 months in 1963 to become a partner in a Riverbank service station operation and then returned to police work.
He was survived by his wife, Georgia, four sons, one daughter, one grandchild and his parents.
His wife, father, mother and brother are buried near him in this cemetery.
Officer Harless is honored at the Stanislaus County Peace Officer Memorial in Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, The California State Peace Officer Memorial in Sacramento, CA, and the National Peace Officer Memorial in Washington, D.C., Panel 48-E, Line 6.
Officer Harless of the Riverbank Police Department had just come on-duty at 11:00 PM and cheked out a store at the intersection of Palmer Ave and Patterson Rd. He was turning left from Palmer to go west on Patterson and was unaware that CHP officers were pursuing a suspect, Sergio Chapa Caleron, 28, who had sideswiped a CHP vehicle minutes before.
Calderons vehicle smashed into Officer Harless at an estimated 80 MPH with, as CHP Officers Ralph Maybee and Tom Munth described, an impact of a "bomb-like explosion". The CHP officers and a citizen were unsuccessful in extracating Officer Harless from the flaming wreckage of his patrol car before it became fully engulfed. Calderon was in critical condition and was charged with manslaughter.
Officer Harless was a police reserve five years before joining the department full time in 1957. He left the force for 18 months in 1963 to become a partner in a Riverbank service station operation and then returned to police work.
He was survived by his wife, Georgia, four sons, one daughter, one grandchild and his parents.
His wife, father, mother and brother are buried near him in this cemetery.
Officer Harless is honored at the Stanislaus County Peace Officer Memorial in Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, The California State Peace Officer Memorial in Sacramento, CA, and the National Peace Officer Memorial in Washington, D.C., Panel 48-E, Line 6.
Calderons vehicle smashed into Officer Harless at an estimated 80 MPH with, as CHP Officers Ralph Maybee and Tom Munth described, an impact of a "bomb-like explosion". The CHP officers and a citizen were unsuccessful in extracating Officer Harless from the flaming wreckage of his patrol car before it became fully engulfed. Calderon was in critical condition and was charged with manslaughter.
Officer Harless was a police reserve five years before joining the department full time in 1957. He left the force for 18 months in 1963 to become a partner in a Riverbank service station operation and then returned to police work.
He was survived by his wife, Georgia, four sons, one daughter, one grandchild and his parents.
His wife, father, mother and brother are buried near him in this cemetery.
Officer Harless is honored at the Stanislaus County Peace Officer Memorial in Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, The California State Peace Officer Memorial in Sacramento, CA, and the National Peace Officer Memorial in Washington, D.C., Panel 48-E, Line 6.
Gravesite Details
Per his daughter, the birth month is wrong on marker
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