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Motor Officer

Lawrence Larue Sills

Woodland Police Department — Woodland, CA

Accident

End of Watch June 13, 1945

Age 33

Tour of Duty 4 yrs

The Vigil Panel 81 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Motor Officer Lawrence Sills died from injuries received in a motorcycle crash while pursuing a suspect vehicle. He was monitoring traffic at the intersection of East Street and Main Street when he observed a vehicle that failed to stop at the intersection. As he proceeded to pull out to stop the car the wind blew his hat off. He lost control of his motorcycle as he reached for the hat. He suffered a fractured skull and remained unconscious until he passed away on June 13th, 1945. Officer Sills was born in College City and had graduated from Yuba College in Marysville before joining the Woodland Police Department.

Survivors

Officer Sills was survived by his wife, two daughters, parents, and brother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-14AA6398
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.
Motor Officer Sills gave the Woodland Police Department 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Woodland community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Motor Officer Sills.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Woodland Police Department

Location Woodland, CA

Platform Identity woodpd.yolo.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 13, 1945

Tour of Duty 4 yrs

Age 33

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Motor Officer Lawrence Larue Sills 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

Woodland Police Department

of 1 officers

100% Accident

CA — Statewide

719

of 1,837 officers

39.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Lawrence Larue Sills's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Lawrence Larue Sills Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service