Reserve Police Officer Jerry J. Crocker

Jerry J. Crocker

Reserve Patrol Officer Jerry Crocker and Patrol Officer Terry Lewis were killed when their patrol car was struck by a drunk driver driving a flatbed utility truck on North Collins Street.

The 21-year-old driver of the truck and a friend had just left Baby Dolls' topless bar on Farm Road 157 when they decided to turn around and go back. Just before the crash, a woman called 911 and reported the driver was operating his vehicle in a reckless manner. An investigation revealed that the driver was going more than 65 mph in a 45 mph zone on North Collins Street just south of Green Oaks Boulevard when he slid more than 100 feet and broadsided the officer's patrol car. His blood alcohol level was 0.21. He was convicted of intoxicated manslaughter and sentenced to five years in prison.

Officer Crocker was a United States Vietnam War Army veteran who served with the Arlington Police Department for three years. He had just decided to take a position as a full-time officer. Officer Crocker was an engineer with the state highway department and would be taking a $500 per week pay cut and forfeiting his retirement when he left his job, but he said he had to make his childhood dream come true. He is survived by his wife and three children.