Patrolman Robert J. Card

Robert J. Card

Patrolman Robert Card was shot and killed while searching for two armed robbery suspects.

A truck driver from a Clinton, Iowa, bottling works company had stopped on Lincoln Highway, about six miles west of Sterling, to assist two young men who asked him to borrow a jack. As the truck driver was retrieving the jack, he was knocked unconscious with a pop bottle. When he came to, both his money and the bandits had disappeared.

Despite numerous roadblocks set up by authorities on local highways, the suspects were able to escape. It is believed Patrolman Card had recognized the suspects and while pursuing them, he was shot and killed.

Patrolman Card had served with the Sterling Police Department for less than one month. He had previously served with the Illinois State Police for nearly 6½ years as a trooper assigned to District 1 in Sterling.