Officer Francis P. Ryan

Francis P. Ryan

Officer Francis Ryan succumbed to injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash on October 17, 1922, on the Philadelphia Pike NB at Holly Oak Road in Wilmington.

At 10:30 p.m., Officer Ryan was pursuing a speeder who refused to stop. He was able to pull up next to the vehicle and maneuver the car to the side of the road as it slowed down when another car traveling southbound struck him. Officer Ryan was thrown from his motorcycle, breaking his legs.

The driver who hit Officer Ryan transported him to a nearby doctor before he was transferred to the Delaware Hospital. Officer Ryan succumbed to his injuries 16 days later.

The speeding driver fled the scene and was never found. The driver who struck Officer Ryan was exonerated.

Officer Ryan had served with the Delaware State Police for four years. He was survived by his wife.