Patrolman Anthony Wieczorek

Anthony Wieczorek

Patrolman Anthony Wieczorek was shot and killed when he and four other officers went to a restaurant on East 55th Street and Fleet Avenue to arrest a Pennsylvania prison escapee.

A customer recognized the suspect and called the police. When they arrived, they approached the suspect with their guns holstered in order to not incite a shooting match. The suspect, however, opened fire, striking Patrolman Wieczorek four times and striking Patrolman George Effinger once. Patrolman Wieczorek was taken to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. Patrolman Effinger succumbed to his wound on March 20, 1933.

The suspect, who had been shot and wounded during the incident, was apprehended. The suspect boasted that he had killed as many as 26 men. In 1927, the subject was convicted of the murder of a payroll guard he killed in Pittsburgh on December 23, 1925, and sentenced to death. On August 18, 1927, he and another death row inmate shot their way out of the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. The subject and a gang he developed were responsible for several hold-ups and murders until his capture. On June 25, 1928, he shot and killed Sergeant George Barstad of the Detroit Police Department during a hold-up at the Detroit News business office. The subject recovered from his wounds and was returned to Pennsylvania, where he was executed in the electric chair on January 20, 1929.

Patrolman Wieczorek had served with the Cleveland Police Department for four years. He was survived by his wife and daughter.