ASHEVILLE, N.C. (FOX Carolina) – Two previously unrecognized line-of-duty deaths involving Asheville Police officers will be permanently honored on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
According to the Asheville Police Department, Sergeant Frank J. Hagan and Officer Arthur Ramsey both died years after suffering injuries during their service in the 1930s.
Officials said that Sergeant Frank J. Hagan, a 12-year veteran of the Asheville Police Department, was injured on August 15, 1933, while pursuing meter thieves on his police motorcycle. During the high-speed pursuit, Sergeant Hagan crashed into a parked vehicle, suffering a compound fracture to his leg. Though he eventually returned to active duty in September 1934, he died on September 3, 1937, at 37.
According to police, Officer Arthur Ramsey, also a 12-year veteran of the department, was hit by a vehicle on April 24, 1931, while leaving a hospital during an investigation. Officer Ramsey suffered severe spinal injuries that worsened over time. Although he partially returned to work at police headquarters, he was medically retired in 1933 and classified as totally disabled before dying on February 25, 1935, at 41…