On the night of November 27, 1963, 42-year-old off-duty New York City Police Detective Donald Rolker was riding a Lexington Avenue IRT subway train home to Brooklyn after finishing his shift with the Midtown North Squad in Manhattan. As the train neared the last stop at Nostrand and Flatbush Avenues, he found himself in a nearly empty car with four young men who had set their sights on robbing him.
When three of the men demanded his money, Detective Rolker, a veteran of the force since 1946, reached for his service weapon. Before he could fully react, the assailants opened fire. Despite being mortally wounded, Detective Rolker managed to fire a single shot, striking one of the suspects, 19-year-old Allen McNeil, in the leg.
As the train pulled into the station and the doors opened, the four perpetrators fled. Their violent spree continued onto the street where they attempted to hijack a taxicab, shooting and critically wounding the driver in the process. The sound of the gunfire attracted the attention of several patrolmen in the vicinity. They quickly found the wounded cab driver, who was able to provide a description of his attacker. This led to the swift capture of the injured McNeil a short distance away. The other three suspects were apprehended within a few hours. Detective Rolker tragically died at the scene.
The ensuing legal proceedings brought a measure of justice for the slain detective. On May 13, 1964, after only 11 hours of deliberation, a jury convicted three of the perpetrators, aged 17, 18, and 19, of felony murder. All three were handed life sentences for their roles in the senseless killing. In a turn of events decades later, one of the convicted men was released from prison in 1983, and the other two were freed in 1984. In honor of his sacrifice, the squad room of the Midtown North Squad, where Detective Rolker was assigned, was dedicated in his memory.
