Officer Albert Donald Hoover

Albert Donald Hoover

Officer Don Hoover was killed in a motorcycle crash on the Santa Cruz- Watsonville Highway.

At 7:45 p.m., Officer Hoover was returning from the lettuce strikes near Watsonville when another vehicle turned off of a cross street, striking his bike. He was driving on the curve of the highway known as the "Slaughterhouse Curve." It was aptly named due to the severity of accidents that occurred on the sharp turn.

Officer Hoover was transported to a Santa Cruz hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries the next morning.

Officer Hoover had served with the California Highway Patrol for five years. He started with the California Highway Patrol when it was created. He was survived by his wife, son, and parents. He was a distant cousin to the former President of the United States, Herbert Hoover.

In 2013, the northbound lane of Highway 1 near Park Avenue and the southbound lane near the La Fonda Avenue Bridge was renamed the A. Donald Hoover Memorial Freeway.