Roll of Honor
Incident
Trooper Thomas succumbed to injuries received two days earlier when he was involved in a motorcycle accident while responding to a drowning call in Edwardsville. The motorcycle began to have mechanical troubles that caused him to lose control of the bike. He was thrown into a culvert and sustained severe injuries. He regained consciousness for a short time and explained what happened before passing away. Trooper Thomas had served with the Illinois State Police for one year and was assigned to District 11. Trooper Thomas was killed one day before he was to enlist in the U.S.
Survivors
Army and was survived by his fiancee.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-IL-479D7140- 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
You barely got started.
Trooper Thomas gave the Illinois State Police 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the people of Illinois. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper Thomas.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Trooper Robert Richard Thomas 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 IL, 354 of 1,318 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 26.9% of this state's fallen. That is 4.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Illinois State Police, 49 of 67 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 73.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Robert Richard Thomas's cause is highlighted.
How Robert Richard Thomas Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Robert Richard Thomas is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
66 officers from Illinois State Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
