Deputy Sheriff James D. Mizner

James D. Mizner

Deputy Mizner was shot and killed while investigating an auto theft. The victim had notified Deputy Mizner that his stolen car had been spotted on Laclede Road, about one mile west of Brookfield. Deputy Mizner and the citizen took a cab to the location and found the car with an empty gas tank. The two stayed with the car and sent the taxi driver back to town for gas.

As the two were sitting in the car waiting for the taxi driver to return, another car pulled up and a man with a pistol got out. He told the two to put their hands up. Deputy Mizner took a step towards the man and was shot in the chest. The man then started shooting at the citizen, who fell into a nearby ditch. The suspect fled the scene in the car he arrived in and was believed to be a car bandit.

Deputy Mizner was survived by his wife, two brothers, and three sisters. He was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookfield, Missouri.