Lieutenant Martin E. Webb

Martin E. Webb

Lieutenant Martin Webb drowned while attempting to save a man whose car had gone into a river during a rare summer tropical storm that hit the Baltimore area.

Baltimore County police discovered his automobile the following morning near the intersection of Chesaco Avenue and Old Philadelphia Road with all of its doors open. Witnesses reported that they had seen him park and leave his vehicle in a heroic, successful attempt to rescue a woman trapped inside her overturned automobile.

Lieutenant Webb was last seen as he was swept away by the intense floodwaters. His body was recovered on August 3rd, 1971, in Redhouse Creek, approximately one-half mile away from where he had rescued the woman.

It is believed 16 persons died from the flash flooding as a result of the storm.

Lieutenant Webb was a U.S. Navy veteran of WWII and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War. He had served with the Baltimore City Police Department for 17 years. He was survived by his wife and two children.