Deputy Sheriff Wilber W. Hendrickson, Sr.

Wilber W. Hendrickson, Sr.

Deputy Sheriff Wilber Hendrickson and Officer John Riblet, of the Miami Police Department, were shot and killed while attempting to prevent a jail escape.

The brother of one of the prisoners went to the Dade County Jail, knocked on the door, and shot Deputy Hendrickson when he answered it.

Officer Riblet, who was walking his beat nearby, heard the shot and immediately responded to the scene. He and the suspect exchanged shots and were both killed. The prisoner, who was the suspect's brother, was not able to escape. However, the prisoner did escape three years later and continued a life of crime with a gang of his brothers and other criminals known as the Ashley Gang.

On January 9, 1924, the escaped member of the gang shot and killed Deputy Frederick Baker, of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department, as a posse attempted to arrest them in the Everglades. One of the other gang members was also killed. The rest of the gang members were shot and killed by a posse in November 1924.

Deputy Hendrickson was survived by his wife and son.