End of Watch: February 3, 1977
SERVED FROM OCTOBER 01, 1970 TO FEBRUARY 03, 1977
Assignment at time of death: Patrol Division
Lieutenant Worrell was shot and killed when he and Ptl. James “Butch” Clark arrived on the scene of a burglary in progress at Howard’s Discount Center on North Stateline Avenue. As the officers exited their vehicle they were ambushed by John Lohbauer, a fifteen-year-old juvenile suspect with a high-powered rifle who was standing watch in the parking lot of a bank north of Howard’s while his two accomplices, also juveniles, burglarized the store. Both officers were struck by gunfire and Lieutenant Worrell died as a result of wounds an hour later at Saint Michael Hospital. Ptl. Clark eventually recovered from his wounds. He later became a sergeant with the Arkansas Highway Police.
All three suspects were apprehended. Two of Lohbauer’s companions were arrested inside the business. Lohbauer was arrested later at a convenience store on North Stateline Avenue.
The shooter identified as John Lohbauer was
sentenced to life in prison. His two accomplices were sentenced to 20 years
each and were paroled to other states in 1986. Lohbauer has been denied parole
four times since the murder. On January 30, 2019, the Arkansas Supreme Court
ordered a new trial because he was a juvenile at the time of the shooting. He
died in prison February 9, 2019.
Lieutenant Worrell was survived by his expectant wife and two sons. His
daughter was born the following September.
Bio
Incident Details
End of Watch Friday, May 19, 1922
Patrolman Richard Choate was shot and killed as he and the police chief escorted a robbery suspect to a location where the man claimed to have hidden stolen property.
Without warning the subject produced a concealed handgun and shot Patrolman Choate in the abdomen six times. The suspect was taken from the Miller County Jail by an angry mob and lynched.
Patrolman Choate had served with the Texarkana Police Department for 10 years.
Policeman Hence Giles was shot and killed by a convicted murderer who had escaped from a Texas prison. Policeman Giles was shot while searching for illegal whiskey in a vehicle he had stopped on East Broad Street.
The suspect was arrested in January 1928 and charged with Policeman Giles’ murder, but escaped from the Miller County Jail two months later. On June 28th, 1928, the man shot and killed Constable Roy Selman, of the Little River County Sheriff’s Office, as Constable Selman attempted to arrest him.
The suspect was captured in Sevier County and subsequently charged with Policeman Giles’ murder, Constable Selman’s murder, and a third murder.
On September 10th, 1933, the man was involved in a prison escape from the Angola Prison in Louisiana in which Captain John Singleton, Guard James Fletcher, and Trustee Guard Arnold Davis were shot and killed.
