Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Stevens was killed when his patrol car was struck from behind while stopped on a dirt service road next to Michigan Avenue and Lotz Road.
The officer was investigating a suspicious vehicle parked nearby in tall grass at 1615 hours. He had just returned to his patrol car when another car, where the driver was speeding down the dirt road, went airborne and collided into his car. The collision caused his patrol car to roll over, partially ejecting him. Officer Stevens was transported to Oakwood Annapolis Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The driver and passenger in the other car were seriously injured. The driver was charged with murder in connection with the incident, but was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 3 to 15 years in prison.
Officer Stevens had been a full-time officer with the Canton Police Department for 25 years, and served as a reserve officer for an additional two years.
He is survived by his wife.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MI-11A8245F- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
27 years. You could have gone home.
Officer Stevens gave the Canton Police Department 27 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Canton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Stevens.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Gordon Lewis "Lew" Stevens is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MI, 229 of 718 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.9% of this state's fallen. That is 0.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Gordon Lewis "Lew" Stevens's cause is highlighted.
How Gordon Lewis "Lew" Stevens Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Gordon Lewis "Lew" Stevens is highlighted in Jul.