On a tragic Tuesday, August 11, 1981, fifty-seven-year-old Gary Police Lieutenant George Yaros, a man on the cusp of retirement, responded to a robbery in progress at the Gary National Bank. It was a decision that would cost him his life. As three men fled the bank, an exchange of gunfire erupted, and Yaros was struck. One of the assailants then approached the wounded officer and fired again at point-blank range. Despite being rushed to St.
Mary Mercy Hospital, Lieutenant Yaros succumbed to his injuries. A 29-year veteran of the force and a decorated World War II paratrooper, he was just six months away from starting a new chapter in his life, a job at the very bank where he was slain.
The perpetrators, identified as Rufus Averhart, Ralph D. Hutson, and David North, attempted to escape, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended when their getaway car crashed into a tree. The man who fired the shots, Averhart, fled on foot but was soon apprehended with the help of bystanders. All three men were subsequently charged and convicted of murder.
The legal aftermath of Lieutenant Yaros's death was a long and complex journey. The jury recommended the death penalty only for the shooter, 26-year-old Rufus Averhart, while his accomplices received lengthy prison sentences. Averhart, who later changed his name to Zolo Agona Azania, would see his death sentence overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court on two separate occasions. In 2008, he was resentenced to a 60-year term for murder and a 14-year term for armed robbery. After serving a portion of his sentence, he was released on parole in 2017. The other two men involved, Hutson and North, were also eventually discharged from prison in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
