Incident
Chief of Police Alvin Barrett suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after struggling with a suspect he was attempting to arrest at approximately 6:30 pm.
He was investigating a disturbance at the St. Cloud Hotel on the 800 block of Hannah Street. He was attempting to arrest a subject involved in the disturbance but the man resisted and began to struggle with Chief Barrett.
After subduing the man, Chief Barrett returned to the borough hall where he began to feel ill and collapsed. He was transported to Phillipsburg State General Hospital where he passed away several hours later.
The man he was struggling with was arrested and charged with assault and battery.
Chief Barrett had served with the Houtzdale Borough Police Department for 17 months and had previously served with the Pennsylvania State Police.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-B38A42C6- 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.
Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Alvin. Claim this record.
This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.
Tributes
You barely got started.
Chief of Police Barrett gave the Houtzdale Borough Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Houtzdale community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Barrett.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police Alvin Isiaah Barrett is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In PA, 118 of 1,261 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 9.4% of this state's fallen. That is 5.4 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Alvin Isiaah Barrett's cause is highlighted.
How Alvin Isiaah Barrett Compares
Offender Outcome
Arrested
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Alvin Isiaah Barrett is highlighted in Sep.