Roll of Honor
Jacob Pennington Boyer
Incident
Police Officer Jacob Boyer and Police Officer Henry Lucas were killed when the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Street Railroad Company streetcar they were riding in was struck by a Reading Railroad Company train at the intersection of Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue.
Both officers, along with three others, were riding the streetcar back to the police station for their end-of-shift roll call when the crash occurred at shortly before 7:00 am. All five officers attempted to jump from the streetcar as it began to cross the railroad tracks. The other three officers successfully jumped to safety, but Officer Boyer and Officer Lucas suffered fatal injuries as the train collided with the streetcar. Officer Boyer died at the scene. Officer Lucas was taken to his home where he died the following morning.
Officer Boyer was a Union Army veteran of the Civil War and served with the Philadelphia Police Department for less than two years. He was survived by his wife and four children. He was assigned to the 22nd District.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-890DAD71- 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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Police Officer Boyer gave the Philadelphia Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Jacob Pennington Boyer served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Police Officer Jacob Pennington Boyer 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. Jacob Pennington Boyer's cause is highlighted.
How Jacob Pennington Boyer Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Jacob Pennington Boyer is highlighted in Mar.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
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