Sergeant Daniel C. Chason

Daniel C. Chason

Sergeant Daniel Chason succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained early the previous morning while investigating a suspicious noise coming from the local newspaper's building.

When Sergeant Chason checked the mechanical room of the newspaper building he was shot through the stomach as he shined his light into the darkened room. He then left the building and walked to the A.C.L. Watch tower, told the man there to watch the Observer because he was shot, and called a taxi to take him to Pittman Hospital where he collapsed. Physicians discovered that the bullet had punctured his left lung and was lodged; surgery was performed to extract the bullet and repair the stomach and liver, however, he later succumbed to his wounds.

Sergeant Chason was unable to identify his assailant, who shot him from a dark room. The only evidence left at the scene was a fingerprint near a broken window. Bloodhounds searched a 10 mile radius for the the suspect which led them to a residence, but none of the inhabitants were linked to the incident. On January 14, 1926 a suspect was charged with Sergeant Chason's murder. Six months later a jury found him not guilty.

Sergeant Chason's uncle, Chief of Police J. A. Chason, was shot and killed in the line of duty on March 3, 1907, while serving with the Fayetteville Police Department.

Sergeant Chason had served with the agency for four years. He was survived by his wife and two sons and was buried at Green Springs Baptist Church.