Memorial to Lester G. Myers
End of Watch: November 13, 1958
Rank: Officer Badge No. N/A
Age: 22 Years of Service: 8 years
Location of Death: 2700 Connecticut Ave, NW
Duty Assignment: Motor Officer, Traffic Division
Circumstance:
Motorman Myers was assigned to Traffic Division. He was operating his motorcycle in the 2700 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW, when an auto made a U-turn in front of him, causing a fatal collision.
Biography:
Born in Sligo, Pa., Pvt. Myers had lived in the Washington area nine years. He is survived by his wife, Kareen, his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Myers of Sligo, five sisters and two brothers.
Articles from the Washington Post – transcribed by Dave Richardson, MPD/Ret.
THE DEATH OF OFFICER LESTER G. MYERS
THE WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED NOVEMBER 14, 1958, PAGE C8
POLICEMAN KILLED HERE IN COLLISION
Metropolitan Motorcycle Policeman Lester G. Myers, 30, of 4204 Federal St., Rockville, was injured fatally early yesterday when his motorcycle hit the side of an auto in the 2700 block of Connecticut Ave. NW.
Pvt. Myers was admitted to the Washington Hospital Center where he was treated for fractures of both legs, pelvis and skull, as well as brain and internal injuries. He died several hours after the accident.
Police said Myers was riding south on Connecticut and the car was heading north when it made a U-turn and the motorcycle crashed into it.
The driver of the car, Mitchell T. Chisholm Jr., 24, of Frederick, Md., was charged with reckless driving and failure to yield the right of way. He was held by Municipal Court Judge Leonard P. Walsh under $1,000 bond. The case was continued to Dec. 8.
Pvt. Myers, who joined the Police Department in 1950, was married. He had no children. He was wearing a safety helmet at the time of the accident but the force of the impact caused a skull fracture despite the helmet. Accident investigation Unit officers said he was knocked 50 feet from his motorcycle.
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WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED NOVEMBER 20, 1958, PAGE A3
INQUEST HOLDS MOTORIST IN POLICE DEATH
A Coroner’s jury found Mitchell T. Chisholm, 24, of Frederick, Md., responsible yesterday for the traffic death of motorcycle policeman Lester G. Myers, 30.
Myers was thrown 43 feet after his motorcycle collided with Chisholm’s car last Thursday in the 2700 block of Connecticut Ave. NW. Chisholm was making a U-turn to let two girl passengers out at their apartment house at 2700 Connecticut Ave.
James Proudfoot, 43, a cab driver, of 5101 Sargent rd. ne., testified he saw Chisholm make a sudden fact U-turn after turning into Connecticut Ave. from Woodley rd. He testified Chisholm’s headlights were not on.
But three passengers in Chisholm ’auto testified the lights were on and that he had not been on Woodley rd. at all. The maintained that Chisholm turned onto Connecticut Ave. from Calvert St. bridge.
Milton Browne, of 121 Franklin Ave., Silver Spring, testified he heard the motorcycle racing down Connecticut Ave. at full throttle. He was in an apartment at 2816 Connecticut Ave.
But Donald L. Mason, of 2727 Connecticut Ave. NW., testified that the policeman’s motorcycle was idling under his window until just a moment before the crash.
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WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED JANUARY 8, 1959, PAGE A14
DATA DENIED DRIVER AT DEATH TRIAL.
A request to see the health and personnel records of a dead policeman was turned down as a “fishing expedition” yesterday by Municipal Court Judge Thomas A. Scalley.
The request came from Charles E. Channing Jr., defense attorney for Mitchell T. Chisholm, 24, of Frederick, Md., who is on trial for negligent homicide in the traffic death of Metropolitan Police Pvt. Lester G. Myers.
Myers, 30, was killed Nov. 13, when his motorcycle was struck in the 2700 block of Connecticut Ave., NW. by car driven by Chisholm.
Channing said he hoped to show Myers had been disciplined for previous accidents and suffered from fainting spells. But Judge Scalley accepted the recommendation of Assistant U.S. Attorney William W. Greenhalgh and granted Channing access only to the police department report and papers found with Myers at the sce of the accident.
At the jury trial before Judge Andrew J. Howard Jr., Pvt. Douglas Scott of the Accident Investigation Unit said tire marks indicated Chisholm’s car made a U-turn on Connecticut Ave. just before the accident. The prosecution resumes its case today.
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WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE DATED JANUARY 10, 1959, PAGE B2
DRIVER ACQUITTED IN CYCLIST’S DEATH
Mitchell T. Chisholm, 24, was acquitted of negligent homicide late yesterday in a traffic accident in which a Metropolitan motorcycle policeman was killed.
A Municipal Court jury deliberated 55 minutes before deciding Chisholm was not responsible for the death of Pvt. Lester G. Myers, 30. Chisholm’s car and Myer’s motorcycle collided Nov. 13 near 2700 Connecticut Ave. NW., when the car was halfway through a U-turn, witnesses said.
Chisholm, a finance company representative from Frederick, Md., testified he did not see the motorcycle until just before the crash.