Incident
Patrolman Richard Martin suffered a fatal heart attack after assisting a motorist.
Patrolman Martin pushed the motorist's car off the road and waited at the scene for a tow truck to arrive. After Patrolman Martin did not respond to a call over the radio, another officer was dispatched to the scene. The officer found him seated in his patrol car, unresponsive.
Patrolman Martin had served in law enforcement for 26 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OH-956524CE- 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
26 years. You could have gone home.
Patrolman Martin gave the Howland Police Department 26 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Warren community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Martin.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Richard Wallace Martin is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OH, 43 of 991 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Wallace Martin's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Wallace Martin Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Wallace Martin is highlighted in Dec.