BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The California Highway Patrol Bakersfield Office is remembering an officer who died in the line of duty in 1954.
Officials said Officer John C. La Mar was on Highway 99 near Bakersfield checking a vehicle that was hooked to a tow truck on Dec. 19, 1954. La Mar set up flares to notify drivers while he was standing between the tow truck and damaged vehicles.
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A speeding vehicle ran through the flares and fatally struck La Mar. He had only been a CHP officer for two months.
Officials said he was 30 years old and a former member of the Tulare Police Department…