2009 Pasco County Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service
May 1, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Dade City Courthouse Square
Citizens, government leaders, and personnel from numerous law enforcement agencies paid tribute to Pasco law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty over the last 100 years during the annual memorial ceremony. A Pasco deputy was honored for the first time at this year's annual law enforcement memorial, 100 years after he was killed in the line of duty. Sheldon S. Nicks (1886-1909) was a deputy sheriff who was killed by a man he and his father attempted to arrest at the Pasco settlement of Fivay on May 8, 1909. Sheldon's father, henry Robert Nicks, was the town constable at the time, and was searching for an escaped convict named Henry Wilson. When the two lawmen found him, Wilson fired upon them. Sheldon jumped in front of his father and was killed by the round. The bullet supposedly passed through him and into his father, who never had the bullet removed. It is unknown if the killer was ever caught.
Deputy Sheriff Sheldon S. Nicks Deputy Sheriff Arthur “Fleece” Crenshaw Special Agent John
Van Waters
Deputy William “Henry” O’Berry Deputy John Herbert “Bert” McCabe Trooper James Bradford-Jean Crooks Lt. Charles “Bo” Harrison
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| Port Richey resident Francis Fair Mallett, Sheldon Nick's niece and oldest surviving relative, lays a rose at his memorial during the ceremony. | ||
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| Participating law enforcement agencies included the Pasco Sheriff's Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Wildlife Commission, the Dade City Police Department, the Zephyrhills Police Department, the Port Richey Police Department. the New Port Richey Police Department, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives. | ||
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Sheriff Bob White speaks about the sacrifice
that law enforcement deputies and their families make every day. |
The honor guard prepares to
place the memorial wreath to start the ceremony. |
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The rifle squad conducts the 21-gun salute. |
The historic court house square was the site
of the memorial. |
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All photos by Pasco Sheriff's Office Forensics Investigator, Denice Weigand |
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