Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman James Lewis was struck and killed by two vehicles that were racing on Butler Street near Washington Street shortly before midnight.
He and another officer had been detailed to stop cars that had been using Butler Street to race in recent days. He was struck by a vehicle and thrown into another as he stepped into the roadway to flag down the vehicles.
Patrolman Lewis was transported to Allegheny General Hospital where he died the following morning. Both drivers were arrested at the scene and held in connection with his death. A coroner inquest ruled that Patrolman Lewis's death was accidental and no charges were filed against the drivers.
Patrolman Lewis had served with the Etna Borough Police Department for 15 months.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two siblings.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-CD0D036E- 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
You barely got started.
Patrolman Lewis gave the Etna Borough Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Pittsburgh community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Lewis.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman James Frank Lewis 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 PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James Frank Lewis's cause is highlighted.
How James Frank Lewis Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. James Frank Lewis is highlighted in May.