In the early evening hours of March 21, 1931, Fort Smith Police Detective Sam Booth, a 48-year-old male, was on patrol with his partner, Detective D.N. Willis. The two officers stopped a vehicle for speeding at the intersection of Towson and South E Street. Inside the car were two young men, one of whom identified himself as Tom Moore from Poteau. Unbeknownst to the detectives at the time, the car the youths were driving had been reported stolen from a hospital parking lot just an hour
earlier.
A decision was made for Detective Willis to go and retrieve the night captain while Detective Booth would accompany the two young men to the jail in their vehicle. Shortly after they drove off, the stolen car pulled over to the side of the road. A violent encounter ensued, and Detective Booth was shot once while still inside the vehicle. All three men then exited the car. As Detective Booth attempted to confront the suspects, more shots were fired by one of the young men, striking the detective three more times.
Despite being mortally wounded, Detective Booth tried to pursue the fleeing suspects. He staggered down an alley and into the back of a local motor company. An employee there saw the gravely injured officer and heard him request an ambulance and to be taken to St. Edward Hospital. Tragically, Detective Sam Booth, the first Fort Smith police officer to be killed in the line of duty, succumbed to his injuries less than 30 minutes later at the hospital.
The two suspects, who were 18 and 23 years old, were later apprehended by law enforcement. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Detective Booth. However, both men were paroled in 1945.
