Killed in the Line of Duty 62 Years Ago Today

May 23, 2013— The Salt Lake City Police Department today remembers the loss of one its own: Sergeant Owen T. Farley, killed in the line of duty May 23, 1951.

Sergeant Farley was shot and killed by a robbery suspect. Near 300 South and State Street, the sergeant had staked out a car investigators believed was used in an Ogden robbery. When a man and a woman returned to the vehicle, Farley arrested them.

Because his police car had vapor-locked, the suspect’s car was used for transportation. The male suspect was handcuffed and placed in the middle of the front seat, with the female passenger on his right.

As Farley was driving northbound near 260 South State, the male suspect retrieved a handgun hidden in the seat and shot the victim in the stomach. Farley died a short time later at a hospital.

Responding officers eventually found the male suspect hiding in a business at 500 S. Main. The female suspect was arrested in Wendover. She testified against the male suspect, who was subsequently executed by firing squad in 1955.

Sergeant Farley was married and the father of three children. He is buried in Heber City Cemetery. With the support of Tim and Padma Collings, the SLC Police History Project installed a plaque honoring his sacrifice on a building on the northeast corner of 300 South and State Street in May 2012

To learn more about our Fallen Officers, please visit our In Memoriam page.

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