Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Lester Kidwell died when he fell through a skylight while investigating suspicious activity near his home on Neal Street. He had just reported off duty at approximately midnight and arrived home at 1:00 am. He heard a dog barking, and went to investigate due to a recent rash of thefts from the area. He climbed onto the roof of a shed in the backyard of 1161 Neal Street, NE, but slipped through the skylight and suffered a deep cut to his jugular. Despite the injury he was able to make it to a call box at Montello Avenue and Otis Place and requested assistance. He was able to tell responding officers what happened just before losing consciousness. A witness told officers she saw the suspected thief run through the alley behind the home just before Officer Kidwell fell. Officer Kidwell had served with the Metropolitan Police Department for seven months. He was survived by his wife. He was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery in Laurel, Maryland.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-DC-E10F562E- 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.
Officer Kidwell served with the Metropolitan Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Washington community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Kidwell.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Lester M. Kidwell 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 DC, 454 of 1,419 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Metropolitan Police Department, 48 of 131 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 36.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Lester M. Kidwell's cause is highlighted.
How Lester M. Kidwell Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Lester M. Kidwell is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
130 officers from Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
