Patrolman J. Fred Koch

J. Fred Koch

Patrolman Johannes Koch was shot and killed as he and other officers attempted to arrest a bootlegger who had jumped bail.

He and his partner approached the subject and his wife as they returned to their car on Camanche Avenue, between 6th Street and 7th Street. The man pulled out a .45 caliber revolver and fired as Patrolman Koch attempted to grab it.

Both officers returned fire, wounding the subject and his wife. They were both taken into custody. The man was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison on November 9th, 1926. On April 8, 1928, he was found guilty in a federal court of violating the Dyer Act, ( the transportation of a stolen automobile from one state to another). In his case he was sentenced to serve three years in a federal prison for driving a stolen car from Chicago to Waterloo. He was to be transferred to a federal prison at the conclusion of his first sentence. He was released in August of 1931 and transferred to Leavenworth.

Patrolman Koch had served with the Clinton Police Department for four years. He was survived by his wife, 2-year-old son, and parents.