Deputy Sheriff Lewis Lester Dryden

Lewis Lester Dryden

Deputy Sheriff Lewis Dryden was shot and killed as he and a Princess Anne police officer attempted to serve an arrest warrant on a man who had shot his stepfather.

The officers encountered the suspect walking down the street, carrying the shotgun he had used in the previous shooting. As they attempted to take him into custody the man was able to obtain control of Deputy Dryden's pistol and fatally shot him. He then shot and wounded the Princess Anne police officer before fleeing.

The suspect, age 21, was arrested several days later. He was convicted of Deputy Dryden's murder and sentenced to life in prison. After seven years in prison an order was received to transfer him to the Crownsville Hospital for the insane after he started showing signs of insanity. On January 3, 1932, as guards were removing him the prison he stabbed and critically injured a guard.

Deputy Dryden was survived by his wife.