Age:  25
Served:  7 months
April 16, 1948 to November 30, 1948

Having survived his tour as a coxswain for the U.S. Navy during World War II, Lewis Hall returned to Cincinnati and married Clara Boebinger, the widow of a man who did not make it back from the war.  Lewis Hall joined the Cincinnati Police Division in April 1948 and was assigned as a Motorcycle Patrolman in the Highway Safety Bureau.  Two months later, tragedy struck the bureau; Motorcycle Patrolman John Hughes was killed in a pursuit.  Then, tragedy struck in Lewis and Clara’s personal life; their first child died at birth.  Patrolman Lewis was wearing Patrolman Hughes’s leather jacket when he went to work in the morning of November 30, 1948.

At 1:50 p.m. that afternoon, Patrolman Hall, paced a speeding car and activated his lights and his siren as they traveled outbound on Queen City Avenue.  The car did not pull over.  In the 2300 block, just past Sunset Avenue, the car and motorcycle were side-by-side.  The driver of the car veered right, forcing the motorcycle off the road, but Patrolman Hall dodged all obstacles and came back onto the road to continue the pursuit.  He crashed the motorcycle into a utility pole at 2450 Queen City Avenue.  There were no witnesses to the crash, but it seemed likely that he was forced off the road again.   Dr. Fred Trinkle drove up on the crash site and pronounced the officer dead.  The coroner found he had suffered a broken neck, fractures of his right hip and leg, a crushed chest, a fractured skull, and internal injuries. 

Patrolman Hall’s murder left wife Clara a widow for the second time.  She fainted when notified of her second husband’s death and was rushed to Bethesda Hospital.  Patrolman Hall was also survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hall, and a sister, Mrs. Bertha Gordoni.  He was laid out at Busse & Borgmann funeral home and buried on December 3, 1948, in Vine Street Hill Cemetery.  Pallbearers included Patrolmen Paul Bare, John Gallespie, Wilber Cappel, Bill Rainey, Walter Hanlon, and William Finnell.

Police searched for the killer’s auto, but never found it. 

Coincidentally, Dr. Tinkle, who pronounced Patrolman Hall, was also the doctor who brought him into this world.

If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of this officer, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.