John Edward "Ed" Liggett, Officer

Talihina Police Department

About 4 A.M. the morning of Saturday, August 13, 1966, Talihina Police received several calls on a car causing a disturbance in the Meadow Heights Addition. Officers “Ed” Liggett and Homer Pugh responded to the call. The officers observed a car in the street of the neighborhood with its engine running. As Officer Liggett drove up behind the car it took off at a high rate of speed. The officers pursued the car through Talihina reaching speeds up to 110 miles an hour. Four miles south of Talihina on U. S. Highway 271 Officer Liggett lost control of the police car causing it to strike a guard rail and roll over. Officer Liggett, 59, died at the scene within a few minutes of the crash. Officer Pugh, who was slightly injured, climbed out of the wrecked patrol car and walked to a near by farm house to summon an ambulance. Officer Liggett was survived by his wife Leona and a married daughter Geniave Uselton. Jimmy Noah, the 19 year old driver of the car being pursued, was later arrested.