Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Hillard was killed when his cruiser struck a tree while in a pursuit. Deputy Hillard was chasing a motorcycle and had just entered a neighboring county. He was on a winding road when his cruiser slid sideways and struck a tree. Deputy Hillard's shift supervisor radioed to him to end the chase, but the crash happened moments earlier. The motorcycle that Deputy Hillard was chasing fled the scene, but turned himself in several days later.
Deputy Hillard had been with the agency for six years, and had been in law enforcement for 21 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-34CA2A9C- 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
21 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Hillard gave the Rowan County Sheriff's Office 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Salisbury community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Hillard.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Richard Allen Hillard 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 NC, 205 of 664 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30.9% of this state's fallen.
At Rowan County Sheriff's Office, 3 of 8 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 37.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Allen Hillard's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Allen Hillard Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Allen Hillard is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
7 officers from Rowan County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
