Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Sheriff Spear Crossley was shot and killed by Oklahoma City police officers in a case of mistaken identity.
Deputy Crossley had stopped a stolen vehicle and determined that the driver was a fugitive. Deputy Crossley arrested the man and drove him to the county jail.
Deputy Crossley then returned to the car with other deputies to remove it from the sand. During the time that Deputy Crossley had taken the prisoner to jail, Oklahoma City police officers had noticed the stolen car and set up surveillance. When the county deputies returned to the scene the city officers and county deputies mistook each other for the car thieves and a shootout ensued. Deputy Crossley was fatally wounded during the shootout.
Deputy Crossley had served in law enforcement for 22 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OK-73662A15- 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
22 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Crossley gave the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office 22 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Oklahoma City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Crossley.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Spear Cushman Crossley 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 OK, 135 of 582 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.2% of this state's fallen. That is 7.8 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Oklahoma County Sheriff's Dept., 4 of 11 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 36.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Spear Cushman Crossley's cause is highlighted.
How Spear Cushman Crossley Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Spear Cushman Crossley is highlighted in Jun.
Others Who Wore This Badge
10 officers from Oklahoma County Sheriff's Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
