Charles Brantley Taylor
Agency patch
Chief of Police

Charles Brantley Taylor

Sparta Police Department — Sparta, NC
Accident
End of Watch March 1, 1948
Age 44
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 6 mo
The Vigil Panel 84 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Location: Virginia Weapon: Automobile Offender: Not available

Chief of Police Charles Taylor and Patrolman Weaver Hogan, of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, were killed when their patrol car was forced off the road into a bridge abutment on US Route 21 south of Wytheville, Virginia. The two officers, along with a third officer, had chased the bootlegging suspects into Virginia from North Carolina.

The third officer was injured in the accident.

Chief Taylor had served with the agency for 18 months.

The bridge on Highway 21 entering Sparta, North Carolina, is named in honor of Patrolman Hogan and Chief Taylor.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, father, and eight siblings.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-3320536B
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.
Chief of Police Taylor gave the Sparta Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Sparta community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Taylor.

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

Agency

Location Sparta, NC
Platform Identity spd.alleghany.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 1, 1948
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 6 mo
Age 44
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident
Weapon Automobile

Chief of Police Charles Brantley Taylor 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 NC, 205 of 664 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30.9% of this state's fallen.

Sparta Police Department
1
of 1 officers
100% Accident
NC — Statewide
205
of 664 officers
30.9% 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. Charles Brantley Taylor'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 Charles Brantley Taylor Compares

Age at End of Watch
44
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
1.5
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Charles Brantley Taylor is highlighted in Mar.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location