Patrolman Saxton Helm Dutschke Sr.

Officer Evans and Officer Dutschke were killed when their patrol wagon was struck by another vehicle at the intersection of 7th and Chestnut at 2255 hours.

Officer Dutschke was killed instantly and Officer Evans succumbed to his injuries the next day.

COURIER JOURNAL ARTICLE 04/09/1934

Acting Corporal Saxton H. Dutschke, 61, killed in collision between police patrol and another automobile.

A policeman was killed and nine persons were injured, three seriously, when a police patrol and a sedan automobile collided at Seventh and Chestnut Streets at 10:55 o'clock Sunday night. Acting Corp. Saxton H. Dutschke, 61 years old, was killed. The injured were: Patrolman C. Q. Evans, 42, fractured pelvis, fractured right leg and internal injuries - condition serious; Miss Mary Jones, 24, of 3140 Vermont Avenue, head injuries, condition serious; Miss Kitty Jones, 24, 3219 Vermont Avenue, head injuries, condition serious; Harry Joyce, 23, of 2319 West Chestnut Street, multiple head injuries; Louis Gruber, Grand Bassan, Africa, cuts and bruises; Mrs. Brents Gruber, his wife, cuts and bruises and shock; Samuel Mengel, 1291 Eastern Parkway, cuts and bruises; Mrs. Elizabeth Mengel, his wife, cuts, bruises and shock; A youth who left the hospital before police obtained his name, cuts and bruises.

WOUNDED MAN IN PATROL

The police patrol was returning to Fourth District headquarters, Twenty-eighth and Main Streets, after a run to the City Hospital. Both policemen were in the front seat, patrolman Evans driving. Joyce was in the back of the patrol, having been treated at the hospital for a gash on his head received in a brawl at Twenty-eighth Street and Greenwood Avenue. With him were the two Jones girls and the unidentified youth, who had accompanied him to the hospital from the scene of the fight. All were being returned to the district for investigation. Mr. Gruber was driving the sedan, Mrs. Mengel was in the front seat with him. In the rear were Mrs. Gruber and Mr. Mengel. Mr. Gruber was charged with manslaughter and released on $1,000 bond. Patrolman Evans said Mr. Gruber ran past a boulevard stop. Mr. Gruber denied that he did so. Corporal Dutschke's head was crushed under the cab of the patrol. Night Chief of Police William Schmidt stationed three patrolmen at the City Hospital to submit to blood transfusions if the condition of the Patrolman Evans required them.

CAB DRIVER SEES CRASH

Lawrence C. Glass, Negro driver for the Empire Cab Company, witnessed the accident. Hearing the patrol, Glass stopped his cab twenty feet north of the intersection, on Seventh Street. The patrol was proceeding west on Chestnut Street, Mr. Gruber's automobile north on Seventh Street. Glass said the patrol hit the rear of the automobile. Both vehicles spun around, he said, with the patrol turning over in the middle of the intersection. The sedan whirled around and was thrown north on Seventh Street. The rear bumper of the careening motor crashed into the front of the Negro's cab, tearing off the bumper and a fender of the cab. Glass and several other men ran to the rescue. Glass said all four occupants of the sedan were unconscious. It required about five minutes to pull them from the wreckage. The nine injured persons were taken to the City Hospital in two patrols from the Second District and a City Hospital ambulance. Mr. and Mrs. Gruber were in Louisville on one of their regular visits. Mr. Gruber, a former resident of the city, is president of the Gruber Trading Company of Grand Bassan, and is African representative of General Motors. They had been in the city since early March and were making their home in the Brown Hotel. The occupants of the sedan were revived at the hospital, but their injuries were not deemed serious enough for admittance. They were cut, bruised and affected by the shock.

TWO OTHERS SEE CRASH

Two other witnesses of the crash were Charles Jones, 709 East Magazine Street, and Russell Pfoke, 113 South Fourth Street. Jones was standing on the corner and Pfoke was three doors away. Their versions were similar to that of the Negro cab driver. The Fire Department was called to wash away the gasoline that was spilled from the two crushed tanks. Corporal Dutschke, who lived at 963 South Second Street, was appointed to the force May 4, 1918. He resigned August 9 of that year. He was reappointed April 30, 1926. Patrolman Evans lives at 2419 Portland Avenue. He was appointed November 23, 1929. While in the operating room, Patrolman Evans called for Sergt. James Kepley and requested him to tell Mrs. Evans not to worry. The men ordered to stand by for blood transfusions, if required, were patrolmen A. J. Miller, Clay Summers and Gene Hagan. Joyce had a long cut on his head from the fight at Twenty-eighth Street and Greenwood Avenue and received additional cuts when the patrol turned over. An X-ray indicated however, that his condition was not serious. Joyce said he did not know the name of the assailant who slugged him. His companion, whose name police did not obtain, ran away from the hospital after attaches told him he was not injured.