Patrolman Weaver Howard Hogan

Weaver Howard Hogan

Patrolman Weaver Hogan and Chief Charles Taylor of the Sparta Police Department were killed when their patrol car was forced off the road into a bridge abutment on US Route 21 south of Wytheville, Virginia.

The two officers, along with a third officer, had chased bootlegging suspects into Virginia from North Carolina.

The third officer and Patrolman Hogan were both taken to a hospital in Wytheville. Patrolman Hogan succumbed to his injuries the following day.

Patrolman Hogan was a United States Coast Guard WWII veteran and had served with the Sparta Police Department for one year assigned to Alleghany County. He was survived by his parents, four brothers, and four sisters.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation named a bridge on I-77 near the Virginia state line in honor of Trooper Hogan. The bridge on Highway 21 entering Sparta, North Carolina, is named in honor of Patrolman Hogan and Chief Taylor.

He is buried at Little Brasstown Baptist Church Cemetery in Murphy, Cherokee County, North Carolina.