Incident
Auxiliary Police Officer Abraham Laster was killed when the police van he was driving was struck by another vehicle at the intersection of 54th Street and Vine Street.
He and another auxiliary police officer had picked up 10 relief firefighters at Engine 65 Fire Station to take them to the scene of a four-alarm church fire. While en route to the scene the van they were driving was struck by a vehicle and rolled over onto its roof. Auxiliary Police Officer Laster was taken to Misericordia Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The 10 firefighters and one other auxiliary police officer were taken to the Philadelphia General Hospital where they were treated and later released.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-3FE0A21D- 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.
Auxiliary Police Officer Laster served with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Auxiliary Police Officer Laster.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Auxiliary Police Officer Abraham Laster 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 PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Philadelphia Police Department, 110 of 378 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Abraham Laster's cause is highlighted.
How Abraham Laster Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Abraham Laster is highlighted in Apr.
Incident Location
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