Sgt. Harvey E. Bolen had been assigned to motorcycle patrol on May 3, 1923, and was in the immediate vicinity of the St. Clair Post. Troopers inside the building observed a “riderless” cycle travel across the front lawn. They rushed outside to find Sergeant Bolen lying unconscious in the roadway. Sergeant Bolen regained consciousness and walked to his room assisted by the officers. His condition rapidly deteriorated and he was taken to a hospital where he was found to have a fractured skull. An operation was performed in an attempt to control internal bleeding, but the injury was too massive. Repeated hemorrhages took the officer’s life during the early morning of May 4, 1923.
No witnesses to the accident were ever located.
Sergeant Bolen was the fourth MSP officer to die in the line of duty.