Deputy Sheriff Arvin E. Kays

Arvin E. Kays

Deputy Sheriff Arvin Kays succumbed to injuries sustained on July 14th, 1968, when his vehicle was struck at a high rate of speed at 38th Street and Georgetown Road at 7:15 pm.

As Deputy Kays turned left onto Georgetown Road, a speeding car entered the intersection when the light changed. The vehicle hit the right front of Deputy Kays' patrol car and spun it head first into a concrete wall. After hitting the Deputy's vehicle, the car knocked down the traffic signal. The driver had skidded 216 feet in an effort to stop at the intersection. The youth driver was treated at the scene and released.

Deputy Kays was rushed to Marion County General Hospital, where he underwent surgery for head and internal injuries. Later he was transferred to Methodist Hospital, where he stayed in a coma due to critical brain damage. He succumbed to his injuries 21 years later.

Deputy Kays was a United States Navy veteran who had served with the Marion County Sheriff's Office for three years, assigned to the warrant division. He is survived by his mother, son, daughter, sister, brother, and grandchild.