My former LE partner and mentor died peacefully in his sleep today at 86 years old. He's been living in a care facility since his wife died of a heart attack earlier this year. He also had a heart condition.
Bob was a former proud Marine, mathematician and historian. He became a tech geek just to maintain his extensive records. I met him in 1981 and we instantly became best of friends. We worked a DUI task force for three years. When not on duty we were doing things off duty together. He was an expert marksman so shooting was our common interest. He was a bit frugal, a common joke between us. He knew every penny he'd spent.
Bob, better known as 'HP300' had a record number of DUI arrests in his 30+ years of service to the State of AZ. He arrested 4,000 DUI offenders. He had the records to support that statistic. No officer back then nor since has beaten that record.
Bob was feared by DUI drivers in Apache Junction, AZ for many years. There were over 20 bars in a two mile section of highway then. There's probably people there who still think Bob is patrolling US60 east.
Bob was like the brother I never had. Always there to give me sage advice. I'll miss our regular phone calls since I haven't been able to visit him due to the crud.
HP300, 10-7 (out of service). Rest in peace Bob. I love ya.
That was both hard and gratifying to read. I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you both for your service. May God keep him close and bring peace to those he loved.
You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
Posts: 30392 | Location: Norris Lake, TN | Registered: May 07, 2008
I'm sorry for your loss, he sounds like he was a quite a guy. I'm glad that he passed peacefully after a lifetime of excitement. Thank you both for doing what you do. Undoubtedly made things a lot safer for a lot of folks on the roads.
______________________________________________ Endeavoring to master the subtle art of the grapefruit spoon.
