Officer Harold Francis MacGilvray, Jr.

Harold Francis MacGilvray, Jr.

Officer Harold MacGilvary succumbed to complications of injuries sustained on November 13th, 1978, when he was struck by a vehicle while making a traffic stop.

He and his partner had stopped a vehicle for speeding on the Southeast Expressway near Neponset Circle in Dorchester. Officer MacGilvary was standing at the driver's window when he was struck by a car that drifted onto the shoulder. Officer MacGilvary was thrown 100 feet and suffered life-threatening injuries. He was transported to a local hospital where he underwent 13 hours of surgery before his condition stabilized.

The driver who struck him fled the scene but was arrested several days later and charged with driving while intoxicated, operating to endanger, driving on a suspended license, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Officer MacGilvary was a United States Army Vietnam War veteran who had served with the Metropolitan Department for 20 years and had previously served with the Medford Police Department for four years. He is survived by his wife, daughter, three sons, and ten grandchildren. Two of his sons also served with the Metropolitan Police Department.

The corner of Marion Street and Main Street in Medford, Massachusetts, was named "Patrolman Harold F. MacGilvray, Jr. Square."