Undersheriff William Washington Stretcher

William Washington Stretcher

Undersheriff William Stretcher and Chief of Police Lawrence Bass, of the Boulder Police Department, were killed in an automobile crash while responding to a fire.

The Buick they were driving was only two days old and was the department's first police car. As they entered the intersection of 19th and Pearl Streets they collided with the city's first fire truck. Chief Bass and a civilian occupant of the police car were killed in the crash. Undersheriff Stretcher, also an occupant of the vehicle, succumbed to his injuries four days later.