Officer Franklin Llewellyn "Pat" Coe, Sr.
(Dec. 30, 1875 -- Feb. 11, 1921)

Although LAPD Officer Walter Kreps is officially recognized as the department's first motorcycle officer to be killed in the line of duty in 1916, one of the first members of the department's motorcycle "Speed Squad," Officer Franklin Llewellyn "Pat" Coe, Sr., was the first LAPD officer to suffer fatal injuries while on duty on his motorcycle in 1910, six years before Kreps's death.

Officer Coe died of his injuries in 1921, more than a decade later, and he seems to have been entirely forgotten by the LAPD.

Coe was born in Le Mars, Iowa, in 1875, a small town in the northwest part of the state, about 35 miles northeast of Sioux City. He was the fifth of six children of Nathaniel Fenton Coe, a farmer and Civil War veteran born in New York, and Emma Stinton Coe, who was born in England.

By 1895, Coe had moved to Los Angeles, Calif., and married Harriet "Hattie" Louise Barron on Nov. 13, 1895. Their only child, Frank Llewellyn Coe, Jr., was born on May 22, 1899. In the 1900 U.S. Census, Coe was listed as a day laborer.

Coe joined the LAPD on May 1, 1906, the year after the department purchased its first two motorcycles for official use. LAPD Chief Walter Auble requested the motorcycles to catch speeders, to take advantage of the two-wheeled vehicle's small size, speed and maneuverability. Auble's request was approved by the City Council.

The motorcycle patrols were immediately successful in catching speeders and increasing police department revenue from fines. By 1909, the department added additional motorcycles and created a designated "Speed Squad" of officers, with Coe being one if its first two members.

For the motorcycle officers, the job was especially dangerous, beyond the typical dangers of police work. At the time, automobile drivers weren't used to seeing or sharing the road with the smaller and faster vehicles, roads were often bumpy and uneven, and the "Speed Squad" officers didn't wear helmets or any special protective clothing. Instead, early motorcycle officers typically wore a jacket and tie, and a tweed cap.

The first two members of LAPD's "Speed Squad" were Officers Coe and Homer L. Gardner.

In late 1910, the LAPD had received increasing reports of speeders in the city. In response, on Nov. 1, 1910, the LAPD doubled the size of the "Speed Squad," adding two more officers -- Howard B. Wallace and Frank Harland. Wallace was partnered with Coe, and Harland was partnered with Gardner. (Interestingly, three of the first four "Speed Squad" officers -- Coe, Wallace and Harland -- were born in Iowa. Gardner was born in Missouri.)

In reassigning Wallace and Harland to the "Speed Squad," the department noted that the motorcycle officers would not have specific duty hours or patrol areas. The intention was that speeders wouldn't know where or when the motorcycle officers might appear, anywhere in the city, at any time, day or night.

At about 5 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 1910, Coe and Wallace, both 34 years old, were sent to patrol the area of Pico Boulevard, a few blocks east of Western Avenue and a common path for speeders heading from the city to Santa Monica, when a large black automobile turned onto Pico and sped past the officers, in excess of the posted speed limit of 45 mph, heading west.

Coe and Wallace gave chase, with Wallace, riding a newer and faster motorcycle, slightly ahead of Coe. Even at a top speed of 60 mph, the motorcycle officers were unable to gain on the black automobile, which accelerated when the driver realized that he was being chased.

On Pico, between Harvard and Hobart boulevards, another automobile started to pull out of a garage in front of the speeding motorcycle officers. Wallace swerved to safely pass in front of the vehicle, but Coe was unable to avoid the automobile in his path. Coe attempted to stop, his brakes locked, and he skidded on the street for about 200 feet past the garage. Coe's motorcycle hit a puddle of water at the side of the street, and his motorcycle slid sideways and hit the curb. Coe was thrown over the handlebars and hit a telephone pole headfirst, cracking his skull in two places.

Wallace continued the chase and didn't know that Coe was down. Wallace followed the black automobile for several blocks until he gave up the pursuit at the city limits, and returned to find Coe injured and unconscious. The driver of the black automobile was never found or identified.

Newspapers described the accident scene and Coe's injuries in graphic detail, including a tuft of his hair and "a great quantity of blood" found on the telephone pole.

Coe was first taken to the Receiving Hospital at LAPD's Central Station, on West First Street, between Hill Street and Broadway, where he underwent three hours of surgery on his skull.

At the Receiving Hospital, doctors found a large, depressed fracture at the top of Coe's skull measuring 2 inches by 2.5 inches. The shattered pieces of skull were removed and replaced by a silver plate.

Doctors also determined that Coe had suffered another fracture at the base of his skull. Coe's jaw was broken, and his left forefinger had been torn off at the joint. He also suffered extensive cuts and bruises on his arms, legs and body.

During surgery, doctors discovered that Coe's middle meningeal artery, the main artery supplying blood to the brain, had ruptured and had to be tied off. His nose and nasal bones were broken, and cerebrospinal fluid was oozing from his nose. His left eye was swollen shut and discolored.

After his surgery, Coe was transferred to California Hospital, at Hope and 15th streets. At the time, California Hospital was widely considered to be one of the largest and best-equipped physician-owned hospitals west of Chicago.

Newspapers initially described Coe's injuries as "fatal," and doctors gave him a slim chance of surviving. The next day, newspapers reported Coe's miraculous recovery.

The day after the accident and surgery, doctors reported that Coe was conscious and alert, and all of his vital signs were normal. "I consider Mr. Coe's chances for recovery excellent, provided meningitis does not set in," said Dr. Clarance W. Cook, who performed the initial surgery and had been attending the officer.

A month later, in December 1910, Cook's fear proved to be tragically prophetic. Coe was diagnosed with meningitis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain. Coe was reported to be "sinking fast," and death was expected "within three days." Cook said Coe's recovery "would be almost a miracle."

Then, in January 1911, Cook said Coe had recovered, and he expected to send his patient home within 30 days.

"Coe's skull was fractured in two places, one fracture being so serious that it was necessary to replace the shattered bone with a silver plate," Cook said. "After the accident, he failed to take nourishment, he lost weight, and finally meningitis set in. With this latest development the physicians abandoned all hope for his recovery."

"This man Coe has one of the most wonderful constitutions I had ever seen," said Cook. "Had he been a weaker man physically, he would have been dead weeks ago. During all the time that he could take no nourishment, his wonderful constitution kept up the battle for his life, and there is every indication now that Coe will soon be a well man."

According to his doctors, Coe essentially willed himself to survive his near-fatal injuries, and went on to live a productive life for more than a decade.

After months in the hospital, Coe recovered from his injuries enough to be released, but he never returned to the LAPD. He retired from the department on a disability pension in 1912.

In the years after his injury, Coe worked as a truck driver and farm laborer. He died as a result of his motorcycle injuries slightly more than 10 years later, on Feb. 11, 1921, at the age of 45. He was survived by his wife and son.

Cook continued to attend to Coe after the motorcycle crash. When Coe died, Cook listed his cause of death as a cerebral hemorrhage caused by his motorcycle accident in 1910.

Coe was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, in the Great Mausoleum, on the Dahlia Terrace, in the Florentine Columbarium. His wife joined him there when she died in 1944, at the age of 72.

Coe's son and namesake, Franklin Llewellyn Coe, Jr., served in the U.S. Army during World War I, and followed his father into law enforcement, serving as an L.A. County Sheriff's deputy. He died in August 1999, three months after his 100th birthday. He's also buried in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn in Glendale.

The LAPD has never officially recognized Coe's death as being in the line of duty. Coe is not included in the LAPD's listing officers killed in the line of duty, and he does not have a department memorial sign.

Coe, however, is included in the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation list of fallen officers, and the Officer Down Memorial Page.

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