Corporal John Lawrence Pierce

John Lawrence Pierce

Corporal John Pierce died as a result of injuries sustained nine months earlier while conducting an undercover narcotics investigation at Whittier College.

On September 21, 1976, Corporal Pierce was leaving a dormitory when two security guards, who had received a complaint about a man harassing students, accosted him in a case of mistaken identity. The security guards shoved him into a parked car, which resulted in Officer Pierce suffering a broken neck.

Corporal Pierce was paralyzed from the neck down, needed a machine to breathe, and was in a coma until he passed away on May 18, 1977.

Both security guards were charged with felony assault. One guard was acquitted, but the jurors could not agree on the verdict for the second guard. The second security guard was charged with manslaughter after Corporal Pierce's death but was also acquitted.

Corporal Pierce had served with the Whittier Police Department for 10 years. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and parents.