On November 10, 1961, Officer Gene Arthur Bessette, 37, was on patrol aboard his police motorcycle. At the intersection of 22nd Avenue South and 12th Street South, a car ran a stop sign and struck him, throwing him 44 feet from his motorcycle. He was taken to Mound Park Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery but did not survive.
Officer Bessette was the ninth St. Petersburg police officer killed in the line of duty. With two years of service, he left behind his wife, Brucie, and three young sons: Blair, Michael, and Mark.
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