William Haskell Keith, Officer

Del City Police Department

At 10:53 P.M. on Tuesday, January 12, 1965, Sergeant John Dickinson, 42, and his rookie partner Officer Keith, 26, became involved in a high-speed vehicle pursuit. During the pursuit Sgt. Dickinson had fired at the fleeing vehicle with his revolver and shotgun while Keith drove. Near Southeast 74th Street and South Sunnylane Road the police car went out of control, hit a telephone pole at an estimated 80 miles per hour and rolled over into a ditch. Harry Kenneth Turoczi, 19, was arrested the next day and charged with eluding police and several other charges. Officer Keith died of his injuries a week later at 1:20 A.M. on Tuesday, January 19, his thirty-third day as a police officer. His wife Carolyn and three young children survived Officer Keith. Sgt. Dickinson survived his injuries.