Roll of Honor
Incident
Trooper Richard Groja was killed in a motorcycle accident. Trooper Groja was responding to a call in Chicago when he failed to show up. He was found five hours later at Rand Road and Garland Place. It appeared that he lost control of the motorcycle on an S-curve colliding with a tree. Trooper Groja was U.S. Army veteran of WWI and served with the Illinois State Police for only two months.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and child.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-379D24CF- 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
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Trooper Groja served with the Illinois State Police.
Thank you for your service to the people of Illinois, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Richard Groja served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Trooper Richard Groja 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 IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Illinois State Police, 49 of 67 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 73.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Groja's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Groja Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Groja is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
66 officers from Illinois State Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
