In the quiet early morning hours of November 16, 1974, a routine traffic stop on U.S. Highway 78 in Lincoln, Alabama, turned into a scene of tragedy. Patrolling the streets were Officer Allen Lee Harmon, 27, and his partner, Officer Otis Lee Robison, 22, along with Reserve Officer James Hines. The officers pulled over a swerving Dodge Challenger and, after administering sobriety tests, arrested the lone occupant, Hugh Worthington, for driving while intoxicated.
With the suspect in the back of their patrol car, the officers began the transport to the Talladega County Sheriff's Department.
The journey was tragically cut short. Unbeknownst to the officers, Worthington had concealed a small-caliber pistol. From the backseat, he opened fire, fatally wounding Officer Harmon before turning the weapon on Officer Robison. Reserve Officer Hines, who was driving, managed to react, causing the vehicle to swerve. In the ensuing chaos, the gunman fled into the nearby woods. Allen Lee Harmon, a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War who had been with the Lincoln Police Department for less than a year, was pronounced dead at the scene. He left behind a wife and two young children.
A manhunt for the suspect concluded ten days later with the apprehension of Hugh Worthington at a motel in Birmingham. On April 18, 1975, the 35-year-old was convicted on two counts of murder and received two consecutive life sentences. His time in prison was not without incident; in November 1980, he managed to escape but was recaptured within the month in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Worthington remained incarcerated until his death in prison on January 22, 2006.
