Age:  24
Served:  13 Months
February 1, 1939 to March 16, 1940

On March 16, 1940, Patrolman Mayer, of 538 Milton Street, and Lieutenant Merrill Surber walked along Court Street, shortly after midnight, and saw a man’s form dimly outlined on a fire escape in the rear of Western Auto Supply Company at 920 Race Street.  Lieutenant Surber ran to Race Street.  Patrolman Mayer ran into the alley and found 27-year-old, ex-convict Walter F. Whitaker and chased him to Ninth and Race Streets.  As Patrolman Mayer grabbed him, both he and Whitaker fell to the ground.  During the ensuing struggle, Whitaker took from Patrolman Mayer’s .38 Special revolver from his holster and got to his feet.  Patrolman Mayer held onto his leg and refused to let go even after Whitaker warned him that he would shoot him.  Whitaker shot him twice and beat him over the head until he let go.  Lieutenant Surber was running toward the two when he heard the shots ring out.  Whitaker ran and threw the revolver onto a roof at 809 Race Street.  Lieutenant Surber commandeered a vehicle from Fireman Clifford Ader and chased Whitaker to Seventh Street near Vine where he cornered and arrested him. 

Patrolman Mayer was rushed to the General Hospital.  Six hours later, he died on the operating table from interabdominal hemorrhaging from a gunshot wound to the chest. 

Patrolman Mayer was survived by his parents, Mr. Julius, Sr., and Mrs. Clara Mayer, and sister, Wilma.  On March 19, 1940, at 2 p.m., the funeral was held at the Salem Reformed Church at Orchard and Sycamore Streets, where Patrolman Mayer was also a Sunday school teacher and choir member.  From there, he was taken by Patrolmen Orville Backus, Stanley Carle, Howard Hilgeman, Joseph Prues, John Ritter, and Warren Wetterstroem to Vine Street Hill Cemetery for burial.

Whitaker was charged with Burglary, stealing three radios valued at $50, and the willful act of Murder while in the commission of a felony.  Eight years prior, in 1932, Whitaker was sentenced to five years in Kentucky for shooting the son of a former Newport Police Chief during a holdup.  During 1938, he was given five years probation after a conviction for the Burglary of another business on Race Street.  We do not know why he was treated so lightly before killing the officer or what his penalty was for doing so.  He does not appear in the list of Ohio executions. 

Please contact Director@GCPHS.com if you have any information about this incident or the officer or his picture, artifiacts, and/or relatives.