Cleo L. Tomlinson Jr.

Florida Highway Patrol — Tallahassee, FL

Veteran → Accident

End of Watch July 13, 1981

Age 42

Tour of Duty 19 yrs

The Vigil Panel 124 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 53

Incident

Corporal Cleo Tomlinson, Trooper Robert Pruitt, and Trooper Merle Cook were killed in an airplane accident while searching for two break-and-enter suspects in St. John's County. The suspects were charged with three counts of homicide in connection with the deaths of all three troopers. The primary burglary suspect was convicted of burglary and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released only to be sentenced to 6 years for cocaine sale in October of 2010 and he currently resides in the Florida State Prison System. Corporal Tomlinson had served with the Florida Highway Patrol for 19 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-FL-4A228A7C
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Marine Corps. One record, 2 gates. Cleo is one person.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Corporal Tomlinson gave the Florida Highway Patrol 19 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Florida. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corporal Tomlinson.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Florida Highway Patrol

Type Highway Patrol

Location Tallahassee, FL

Platform Identity fhp.fl.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 13, 1981

Tour of Duty 19 yrs

Age 42

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Cleo L. Tomlinson Jr. served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1956â1962) before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Corporal Cleo L. Tomlinson Jr. is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In FL, 313 of 1,008 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 31.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Florida Highway Patrol, 25 of 54 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 46.3% of this agency's fallen.

Florida Highway Patrol

of 54 officers

46.3% Accident

FL — Statewide

313

of 1,008 officers

31.1% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Accident