Roll of Honor
Incident
Captain Donny Ashley drowned during a search for two missing children on the Clinton River in Pontiac, Michigan. He and an Oakland County Sheriff's Office marine deputy were moving down the river when their boat went over a waterfall. The boat tipped over and Captain Ashley, who was known to be a strong swimmer, drowned in the strong turbulence at the base of the waterfall. The Oakland County deputy survived the incident. Captain Ashley had served with the Pontiac Police Department for 24 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and son.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MI-6F781BCE- 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
24 years. You could have gone home.
Captain Ashley gave the Pontiac Police Department 24 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Pontiac community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Captain Ashley.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Captain Donny E. Ashley 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 MI, 229 of 718 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.9% of this state's fallen. That is 0.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Pontiac Police Department, 5 of 7 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 71.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Donny E. Ashley's cause is highlighted.
How Donny E. Ashley Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Donny E. Ashley is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
6 officers from Pontiac Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
