Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, 1308 W 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA (2026)

10/22/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Officer Landon Michael Dorris, Serial No 37029. End Of Watch: October 22, 2006.

On October 22, 2006, Los Angeles Police Officer Landon Dorris was assigned to Northeast Division. Officer Dorris and his partner, Officer Marc Fujiwara, were investigating a minor traffic collision at Riverside Drive and Hyperion Avenue. Officer Dorris was outside his police car when a car heading west on Riverside Drive struck him. The force of the impact caused Dorris to hit another car that was waiting to turn left onto the Golden State Freeway on-ramp.

Officer Dorris was transported to University of Southern California Medical Center in critical condition with major head trauma. Despite the best efforts of the hospital emergency staff, Dorris did not survive his injuries.

The driver of the vehicle that struck Officer Dorris stopped and was neither arrested nor cited

Officer Dorris was born on May 11, 1975. At the time of his death, Officer Dorris was 31 years old and had been with LAPD for three years and four months. Prior to his service with LAPD, Landon served six years with the California Highway Patrol as a motorcycle officer. He is survived by his mother Elaine, Wife, Marisabel; two Landon Jr and Brandon, ages three and one; and sisters Carrie and Amy.

Over 2000 fellow officers, city and state dignitaries, friends, and family of Officer Dorris gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles on the morning of Friday, October 27th, to pay their respects. Following the funeral service,

Officer Landon Dorris was laid to rest at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar. The LAPD Memorial Street Sign for Landon is located on the east side of Riverside Drive, south of the Hyperion Avenue overpass, at the I-5 on ramp.

Landon you are not forgotten. Thank you for your service. RIP.

10/22/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Officer Jack Vernon Evans, Serial No 12023. End of Watch: October 22, 1983.

On October 22, 1983, Los Angeles Police Officer Jack Vernon was assigned to Valley Traffic Division, serving as a motorcycle officer. At about 5 p.m., he was traveling west on Sunland Boulevard approaching Wornom Avenue. As he entered the intersection, the driver of a Volkswagen turned east onto Sunland in front of him. Evans motorcycle collided with the vehicle and he sustained critical injuries.

Officer Evans was taken to nearby Serra Memorial Hospital where he died two hours later. The driver of the Volkswagen was not cited.

Jack Evans was born on September 15, 1940. Prior to joining LAPD, Jack served in the United States Marine Corps. He was forty-three years old at the time of his death and had been with the Department for 19½ years.

Jack is laid to rest at Eternal Valley Memorial Park, Newhall. The LAPD Memorial Street sign for Jack is located at the northwest corner of Sunland Boulevard and Wornom Avenue.

Jack, you are remembered. Thank you for your service to the country and the community. RIP.

10/22/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Officer Raymond “Skip” Alfred Messerly Jr, Serial No 22940. End of Watch: October 22, 1992.

On October 21, 1992, Los Angeles Police Officer Raymond “Skip” Messerly was assigned to Valley Traffic Division working as a motorcycle officer. In the early morning hours Messerly collided with a car on Victory Boulevard near Sepulveda Boulevard. He was believed to be in pursuit of a traffic violator at the time of the crash. Officer Messerly suffered neck and head injuries when he flew thirty feet over the top of the vehicle and hit and struck the pavement.

Firefighters transported him to Northridge Medical Center where he died the next day.

Skip Messerly was born on March 17, 1950. He served in the United States Army in the Viet Nam War prior to joining LAPD in February, 1981. He was forty-two years old at the time of his death and had been with the Department for 11 ½ years.

He was survived by his wife, Marie, and six children, including three 11-year-old triplets. Skip was laid to rest at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills. The LAPD Memorial Street Sign for Officer Messerly is located on the east side of Sepulveda Boulevard, just south of Victory Boulevard.

Skip you are remembered. Thank you for your service to the country and to the community RIP.

10/22/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Dean Heim, Serial No 24265. End of Watch: October 22, 1994.

On October 21, 1994, Los Angeles Police Officers Charles Heim and Felix F. Pena were assigned to Metropolitan Division, working the Mounted Unit Enforcement Detail in Hollywood. The two officers received a tip given to them during a traffic stop that someone was dealing drugs at the Dunes Motel at 5625 Sunset Blvd. The officers went to the Dunes Motel, knocked on the door. A woman answered. Officer Heim stepped into the doorway, but was immediately greeted by a hail of gunfire. Officer Heim took two rounds in the upper body and Officer Pena was struck in the right hand. Heim died a few hours later at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

SWAT officers descended on the motel but the suspect jumped out of the second story bathroom window and escaped. The next day an anonymous tip said the suspect could be found in the room of another motel. A standoff began in which the suspect, a known gang member, declared he would not be taken alive. SWAT officers entered into the motel room a few hours into the standoff. The suspect took one round in the throat from the r***e of one of the SWAT officers, then shot himself in the head with the handgun he used to kill Officer Heim. The suspect died at the scene.

Charles Heim was born on March 26, 1961 in Northridge. He graduated Canyon High School in Santa Clarita. Charles served in the United States Army prior to joining LAPD on September 19, 1983. Heim took pride in joining the LAPD’s Mounted Unit, which, in 1989, took up the military custom of a riderless horse, with empty boots reversed in the stirrups, to honor a fallen officer. He is remembered as a prankster, an embellisher of stories, and someone who could always be counted on to boost his fellow officers’ morale, “just an ordinary cowboy.”

Charles Heim was thirty-three years old at the time of his death and served with the Department for eleven years. Charles is buried at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall. The LAPD Memorial Street Sign for Officer Heim is located on the north side of Sunset Boulevard between North Wilton Place and North St. Andrews Place.

Chuck you are not forgotten. Thank you for your service to the country and the community. RIP.

10/21/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Officer David Earle Bailey, Serial No 21939. End of Watch: October 21, 1977.

On October 15, 1977, was assigned to Training Division. Bailey was in the LAPD Academy in recruit training. While off-duty in the City of Rialto, Bailey and a friend encountered three juveniles in the parking lot of a pizza parlor at the North Rialto Shopping Center. The juveniles were attempting to steal a car. One of the juveniles was armed with a gun and displayed it to Bailey. Though without a weapon, Bailey identified himself as a police officer and attempted to disarm the juvenile. The suspect fired two rounds at Bailey. One struck him in the left thigh and the other in the mouth. On October 21st, six days later, Bailey died at University Medical Center in San Diego. The juvenile who shot him turned himself in four days after the shooting.

On August 23, 1978, the juvenile was convicted of second-degree murder and committed to the California Youth Authority, with the term not to exceed eight years.

David Bailey was twenty-one years old at the time of his death. He is buried at Green Acres Memorial Park in Bloomington, CA. The LAPD Memorial Street Sign for David is located at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

David you are not forgotten. RIP.

10/21/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Policeman James Burke Vose, Serial No 5043. End of Watch: October 21, 1950.

On October 21, 1950, Los Angeles Policeman James Vose was assigned to Valley Traffic Enforcement Division, working a motorcycle detail. Officer Vose was chasing a speeding car when he swerved to avoid hitting another car at Ventura Boulevard and Encino Avenue. Vose lost control of his motorcycle and skidded along the ground. He suffered a skull fracture when his head struck the pavement. Vose died approximately three hours after the crash at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.

A full military honor guard attended his funeral. His wife, Florence, was pregnant with the couple’s second daughter, Julia, at the time of his death. The couple’s first daughter, Diana, was two-and-a-half years old.

Officer Vose was born on December 19, 1922, in Los Angeles. During World War II, he served with the 32nd (Red Arrow) Infantry Division in New Guinea and the Philippines and was a recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

After his discharge from the military, he joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1947. He was twenty-seven years old at the time of his death and had been a Los Angeles Policeman for three years. James rests at Inglewood Park Cemetery. The LAPD Memorial Street Sign for James is located on the northwest corner of Ventura Boulevard and Encino Avenue.

James you are remembered. Thank you for your service to the country and to the community. RIP.

10/20/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Detective Sergeant Gene Tilford Nash, Serial No. 5771. End of Watch: October 20, 1958

On October 20, 1958, Los Angeles Police Detective Sergeant Gene Nash was assigned to the LAPD Robbery Division. Nash received a tip that suspects responsible for an estimated sixty robberies were at an apartment at 2723 S. Budlong Avenue.

Four robbery squad officers arrived at the apartment building. The officers had a warrant for a 32-year-old robbery suspect and parole violator with a lengthy criminal history. They were also looking for his 29-year-old partner in crime. The men had been suspected of robbing card and dice games in the area, and were also suspected of robbing theaters, markets, businesses and individuals.

While Sergeant Shirel “Sam” Eastenson, and Officer Charles Leonard, waited on the sidewalk outside the apartment building, Sergeant Walter Bitterolf and Detective Sergeant Nash entered the apartment building.

The officers were met at the door by two men and two women. One of the women told Bitterolf and Nash the only other person in the apartment was her 6-year-old son, who was sleeping in a back bedroom.

When Nash entered the back bedroom to investigate, he was immediately hit with a volley of bullets fired by a man who was hiding on the floor next to the child’s bed. Nash was hit three times in his chest, once in his right arm and once in his left hand. He fell next to the bed of the sleeping child, but was able to draw his revolver and return fire at the man on the other side of the bed. The man was hit and fell to the floor, then scrambled to escape through the bedroom window.

A second man was hiding in a closet in the bedroom. When he opened the closet door, Nash turned and hit him with a shot to the back. Nash’s bullet lodged in his chest.

Hearing the gunshots, Bitterolf ran to the back bedroom and pulled the second man from the closet.

“I told Nash an ambulance was on the way,” Bitterolf recalled. “He said, ‘I don’t think it will do any good. I don’t think I’ll make it.'”
Bitterolf went to the bedroom window and found a revolver and a shoe that had been left behind by the suspect. The handle of the gun has been nicked by one of Nash’s bullets.

Eastenson and Leonard heard the gunfire, then saw the man climbing out of the bedroom window. They chased him, following a trail of blood. They found him about a block away, hiding on the floor of a car. He had fresh bullet wounds on his thigh and hand.

Nash was taken to Central Receiving Hospital where he died. Before he died, Nash positively identified the man who shot him.

In addition to the four initial occupants of the apartment, and the two men hiding in the back bedroom, two other suspects were later arrested. The charges included suspicion of murder and suspicion of robbery.

Gene Tilford Nash was born on October 14, 1926, in Vernon, Texas. He was the only child of Jefferson Josephus “Joseph” Nash, a farmer, and Elsie Ann Sandherr Nash.

Shortly after Nash was born, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Joseph Nash operated a small restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard and Elsie Nash worked as a stenographer for a railroad company. The family later moved to Whittier, California, and Joseph worked as a cook at the CoCo Tree Cafe at the northwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles.

Gene Nash served in the Korean War, enlisting in the U.S. Army on January 2, 1945, and serving at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California. After his discharge from the Army, Nash joined the Los Angeles Police Department in about 1948. He was appointed Sergeant in January, 1958, and joined the LAPD robbery squad in August, 1958.

On May 2, 1954, Nash married Cynthia Anne Davis in Pasadena, California. Their daughter, Patricia Ann, was born on October 15, 1956.

Hundreds of police officers, from the LAPD, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol and police departments throughout Southern California attended Nash’s funeral and his burial at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.

On November 27, 1958, Cynthia Nash accepted the LAPD Medal of Valor on behalf of her husband.

The LAPD Memorial Street Sign for Detective Sergeant Nash is located at the northeast corner of Budlong Avenue and West 27th Street.

Gene you are remembered. Thank you for your service to the country and to the community. RIP

10/20/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Policeman Owen David Yancey. End of Watch: October 20, 1935.
On October 20, 1935, Los Angeles Policeman Owen Yancey was assigned to University Division. Late that night Officer’s Yancey and A.H. Hamilton responded to call of a woman screaming at 3507 Victoria Avenue. When the officers arrived at the location they found the residence dark. They began checking the doors and windows of the house. When they reached a breakfast room window, Officer Yancey peered inside. A female resident, later identified as Jean Pierce, fired a shot through the glass. The round struck the shield on Officer Yancey’s cap and deflected into his brain. He died a short time later at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.

Officer Hamilton summoned help. The responding officers approached the house and contacted Jean Pierce. Pierce worked as a police matron for the LAPD. Pierce admitted firing the round which killed Officer Yancey. Pierce asserted she believed Yancey to be a prowler, not an officer, and only intended to frighten him away. She knew nothing about the alleged scream her neighbors heard.

Officers found another LAPD officer, Ernest Hice, hiding in a closet inside Pierce’s home. Hice claimed he fell asleep in a bedroom, in another part of the house and the gunshot woke him. Hice claimed he drove Pierce home from work when she left early due to illness.

A subsequent Coroner’s Inquest deemed the testimony they heard from Pierce and Hice contradictory and ruled Officer Yancey’s death a homicide. Pierce was arrested on manslaughter. On December 5th, Pierce was found not guilty of manslaughter. Pierce then needed to face an internal review board before getting her job back as a matron at the Lincoln Heights Jail. Rather than face the board at a hearing, a week after her acquittal, Pierce resigned from the LAPD citing health reasons.

Owen was born October 2, 1899, in Oklahoma, the eighth of nine children of Hezekiah Ransom “H.R.” Yancey and Elizabeth “Betty” Holland Yancey. His parents were both born in Georgia, where they had seven children before moving to a farm southwest of Chandler, Oklahoma, in January 1895, where Owen and his younger brother, Harral, were born. Hezekiah Yancey and another farmer in the area donated land that became the Star Valley Cemetery, where many members of the Yancey family are now buried.

Owen worked on his father’s farm until he moved to Southern California in the early 1920s, following his older sister, Susan, who was 18 years old and living in Manhattan Beach.

Owen had a girlfriend, Lorraine Louise Morgan of Chandler. Their plan was that once Yancey was settled in Los Angeles, he would send for her and they would get married. Yancey found work as a streetcar operator in Los Angeles until he was accepted into the Los Angeles Police Academy about 1924. He sent for Lorraine. As soon as she arrived on the train Yancey was waiting with a preacher. They were married before she unpacked her suitcase.

Owen and Lorraine had two children, Owen Jr., born in 1927, and Donald, born in 1932.

In March 1929, Owen was nearly killed in a gun battle with two men who had just robbed a grocery store. One shot hit Owen in the chest, just above his heart, but the bullet was deflected and slowed by a thick book of traffic citations in his pocket, and stopped just beneath his skin.

In 1932, Owen directed traffic during the Summer Olympics, outside Olympic Stadium, now the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Owen Yancey was thirty-six years old at the time of his death. He is buried in Star Valley Cemetery, Warwick, Lincoln County, Oklahoma. The LAPD Memorial Street sign is located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Victoria Avenue, two blocks west of Crenshaw Boulevard.

Owen you are remembered. Thank you for your service. RIP.

10/19/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Officer Joshua James Cullins, Serial No 39542. End of Watch: October 19, 2010.

In 2010, Los Angeles Police Officer Joshua Cullins was assigned to Central Division. Joshua was on military leave with the Marine Corps, assigned to the 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 1st Marine Logistics Group, Marine Expeditionary Force. He was deployed to Helmand Province, Marja region, Afghanistan. His unit was responsible for locating and dismantling or detonating Improvised Explosive Devices’ (IED). In the first ten months of 2010, one hundred thirty-two Marines had been killed in Afghanistan and eighteen killed in October. Despite this Staff Sergeant Cullins went out to accomplish his mission every day. SSGT Cullins had been called out to investigate a previous IED blast when he was killed by a secondary device at that location. He only had two days left in the field before a replacement would have relieved him.

Joshua Cullins was born on March 25, 1982. After graduating from high school in June, 2000, Joshua joined the Marines. He had served on active-duty till August 2007 and then became a reservist in August 2008. He had served two tours of duty in Iraq and was currently serving his second tour of duty as an explosive ordnance disposal technician. Cullins had been decorated with several combat medals and awards for his service in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2008, after leaving active duty with the Marine Corps, Joshua joined the Los Angeles Police Department. Cullins had recently recovered from injuries he suffered in July, 2010, when a device he was disarming exploded. To cheer him up, fellow police officers created a get-well video to encourage him in his recovery. LAPD Officer David Marroquin, created two videos. The first one is a high-quality, uplifting video incorporating get-well messages from LAPD personnel and others outside the Department to express their gratitude for Cullins’ service. It also includes thoughts and prayers for his quick recovery.

For the second video, Marroquin enlisted the help of an actor-musician friend, J. Hunter Ackerman, who wrote a song with Cullins in mind. Both then collaborated to turn the song into a moving music video entitled “Welcome Home.” Both videos were presented during a special tribute to U.S. troops at Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles.

Joshua was twenty-eight years old when he was killed. He had been a Los Angeles Police Officer for two years. He is survived by his parents and two younger brothers. Joshua rests at Pierce Brother Valley Paks Memorial Park, Westlake Village. The LAPD Memorial sign is located at the LAPD Academy.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWUNbAsDqjc/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PkvVd8RSqs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmKLQ-ZX0xQ

10/19/2026

The Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums remembers Los Angeles Police Sergeant John Francis “Frank” Toolen. End of Watch: October 19, 1915

On the morning of October 19, 1915, Sergeant John Toolen and Officer William B. White went to 4947 Marmion Way to arrest to arrest Harry Duncan on a charge of grand larceny. As they entered the man’s home, the suspect’s mother, Mary Duncan, became uncooperative. When the officers searched the lower floor and did not find her son, Mary threw herself in front of Sergeant Toolen and Officer White at the foot of the stairs. A violent struggle ensued. As the officers tossed her out of the way, Harry Duncan appeared in the darkness at the top of the stairs and began shooting. One round struck Sergeant Toolen in the chest. Officer White quickly moved his mortally wounded sergeant out of the building as Harry Duncan and his father, George, fled. Sergeant Toolen died at the scene.

The suspect fled, was subsequently captured, and was convicted of manslaughter. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was paroled on September 10, 1921.

John Toolen was born in 1875 in Cook County, Illinois. Frank came from a prominent Chicago family. His father, Andrew J. Toolen, served as Chicago’s Commissioner of Public Works. Yet from childhood, Frank’s ambition was to become a police officer. He spent his free time visiting police stations and accompanying officers on their beats.

Following his family’s wishes, he pursued a legal career, earning a degree from Kent College of Law and working in the Chicago District Attorney’s Office. After moving to Southern California in 1901, he eventually left legal work and worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad before realizing his lifelong dream: joining the LAPD on November 7, 1906.

His education and dedication helped him advance. He was promoted to Sergeant on October 31, 1910, and shortly before his death earned the highest score on the examination for lieutenant.

Sergeant Toolen was forty years old at the time of his death and had been on the Department for nine years. He left behind his wife, Minnie, and their two children, Andre, 18 years old, and Cecile, 17 years old. John rests at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena. The LAPD memorial sign is located at the northeast corner of Marmion Way and Joy Street, a lasting reminder of his service and sacrifice.

Frank you are remembered. We remember your devotion to the profession you loved and the family whose lives were forever changed by your loss. Forever remembered. 💙

Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums

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