Denis P. Foley

On Saturday, July 16, 1983, at approximately 3:25 a.m. at 143rd and State-Will County Auxiliary Sergeant Denis Foley and Auxiliary Deputy Stephen Mayer were mortally wounded in an ambush slaying. The deputies had been shot in what they thought was going to be a routine stop to help a motorist. They stopped to assist the driver of a pickup truck. The rear of the truck was blocking part of the road, while its front bumper was up against a red car parked in a rutted turn-around area. As the officers approached, their assailant said, "We need a jump," When the officers exited Squad 301A, the gunman suddenly shot both of them. Mayer died shortly after being shot; Foley was seriously wounded in the throat. A few minutes later, another car came around the curve and slowed down. The gunman opened up on them. The driver was killed; his passenger was shot six times. The car rolled on down the road and into a bean field. Wounded and frightened, the female went looking for help. The deputies in 301A were in trouble, but they couldn't be found, and other officers were frantically searching in the darkness of rural Homer Township. Between 3:25 a.m. and 3:40 a.m., county police officers searched for Squad 301A. Sergeant Foley, badly injured from one bullet that had shattered his mouth and teeth, attempted to speak over Squad 301A's radio microphone. Most of his words were garbled. He couldn't give his location. He was instructed to turn on his siren and shine his spotlight in the air. Meanwhile, a farmer who lived in the area called county police to say he could hear racket behind his buildings, including a siren. Officers met the citizen, and less than a minute later, the site of the ambush was located. After finding the two auxiliary deputies, responding units located the bodies of a 25-year-old female and a 32-year-old male who had been in the car parked in front of the pickup truck. The auxiliary officers' guns and wallets were missing. Mayer's body had been dragged across the