Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Richard Willson suffered a fatal heart attack following a foot chase and being assaulted. After catching the suspect he was struck in the chest with a crowbar. He returned to headquarters and while doing the arrest paperwork he began to feel sick. He was escorted to the hospital by another officer, at which time he was transferred to second hospital for more tests. En route to the second hospital he suffered the heart attack at approximately 2:30 am. Sergeant Willson had served with the agency for just over three years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NV-B6E9FCDD- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Willson gave the Mineral County Sheriff's Office 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Hawthorne community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Willson.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Richard Lewis Willson is one of 1 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In NV, 9 of 146 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 6.2% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Lewis Willson's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Lewis Willson Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Lewis Willson is highlighted in Jul.
Others Who Wore This Badge
0 officers from Mineral County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.