Patrolman Otis Lee "Sonny" Robison

Otis Lee "Sonny" Robison

Patrolman Sonny Robison and Patrolman Allen Harmon were shot and killed after making a traffic stop on I-20 and arresting a man for drunk driving.

Unknown to the officers, the suspect was driving a stolen car and had escaped from the Calhoun County Jail on January 26, 1974, while awaiting an appeal of a four-year sentence for burglary. The officers were transporting the man to Talladega to administer a sobriety test.

At 1:40 a.m., they were driving on Alabama 77, approximately one mile south of Alabama 78, when the man produced a pistol and shot Patrolman Robison, who was beside him in the back seat. He then shot Patrolman Harmon in the front seat. A third officer, who was driving, exchanged gunfire with the suspect as he fled into the woods. The suspect was apprehended at a Birmingham motel ten days later.

On April 18, 1975, the 35-year-old suspect was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison. In November 1980, he escaped from prison. Later that month, he was apprehended in Mount Vernon, Illinois. He died in prison on January 22, 2006.

Patrolman Robison had served with the Lincoln Police Department for less than one year. He was survived by his wife, parents, and two sisters.