Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief William Tully died on August 27th, 1918, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident that occurred the day before.
On August 26th, 1918, Chief Tully and other officers raided a home in the city's Mount Washington section and arrested 15 people who were at an illegal poker game. The suspects were placed in a patrol wagon and were en route to the police station. As the vehicle was proceeding down Stefan Hill Road the driver realized that he was losing control of the overloaded wagon due to the excessive weight.
The driver decided to steer the vehicle towards the side of the road, it tipped on its side and went into a ditch. Chief Tully, who was standing on the driver's side running board, was crushed under the falling vehicle. In spite of efforts to lift the wagon from the chief, he sustained serious injuries and died several hours later.
He had been chief of police for only seven months but he had already broken up several criminal gangs that infested the city. He had also provided valuable assistance to county detectives in capturing a number of wanted criminals.
Chief Tully was survived by his wife.
Survivors
Chief Tully was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-BF0A5278- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Chief of Police Tully served with the Beaver Falls Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Beaver Falls community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Tully.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police William Thomas Tully 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%.
At Beaver Falls Police Department, 2 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 100% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Thomas Tully's cause is highlighted.
How William Thomas Tully Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Thomas Tully is highlighted in Aug.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Beaver Falls Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
