Badge: P55
Age: 37
Served: 9¼ years
October 16, 1930 to April 27, 1940
On April 27, 1940 Motorcycle Patrolman Robert D. Leigh was finishing his shift and heading south on Reading Road to report to City Hall for his regular 11 p.m. end of shift roll call when he crashed his bike into a Pontiac coupe driven by Dr. Dale Ettor. The doctor was exiting his driveway at 2719 Reading Road.
Although bystanders – including Herbert Wiemeyer, 26 Glenwood Avenue; Ed Neuman, operator of a Standard Oil Station at Oak and Reading Roads; and Jacob Marx, 15 Mason Street – immediately ran to Patrolman Leigh’s aid and rushed him across the street to Bethesda Hospital, he was pronounced dead upon arrival by Bethesda’s Dr. H. Mintz.
Patrolman Leigh became Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s 46th auto fatality for 1940.
Dr. Ettor, in a state of shock at what had happened, was taken to his residence at General Hospital. He was cited for failing to yield the right of way at a private drive.
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