Robert McGuire

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

May 15, 1961

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN CRITICALLY INJURED IN HEAD-ON COLLISION

Nevada Highway Patrolman Robert McGuire was still on the critical list this morning at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital from injuries he received in a head-on collision with a pickup truck last night at the intersection of Bond Road and Boulder Highway.

McGuire is suffering from two fractured legs, chest injuries, multiple contusions and abrasions. He was pinned beneath the wreckage of his car for 20 minutes before wreckers could pry the door off and free him.

Authorities said McGuire’s vehicle collided with a truck driven by Eugene Rhinehart, 41, of 5491 S. Ninth St.

Sheriff’s deputies said McGuire was answering a service call when Rhinehart’s vehicle careened into the front of the patrolman’s car, smashing in the side and pinning him behind the steering wheel.

Passing motorists tried in vain to free McGuire from the wreckage. He was finally freed when a wrecker attached a cable and yanked the door loose. Mercy Ambulance answered the call.

The other accident occurred at the busy intersection of Main and Fremont Streets Sunday afternoon, blocking traffic for nearly an hour before police could unsnarl the five vehicles involved…

May 16, 1961

POPULAR VEGAS LAWMAN DIES OF CAR INJURIES

A guy who wanted to be a policeman ever since he was a little boy finished a dinner honoring his mother on Mother’s Day, kissed his wife, two daughters and mother goodbye, and went to work patrolling Nevada’s highways.

Just 24 hours later, he wasn’t a cop any more.

Robert McGuire was a policeman for nearly half of his 48 years before he was fatally injured Sunday night chasing down a speeder. He died Monday in the Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital as the aftermath to the grinding collision with a pickup truck.

…McGuire started his police career pounding a skid row beat in Los Angeles before World War II. He later went to work for the Border Patrol in Chula Vista, then entered the Marine Corps during World War II, and returned to the border patrol after the war.

Then McGuire went to work for the police department in San Bernardino, Calif., and stayed there for seven years. He came to Las Vegas nine years age, worked for a few months as a guard for the Atomic Energy Commission before spending two years with the Las Vegas Police Department as a motorcycle patrolman. His last seven years were with the Nevada Highway Patrol where he became an acting sergeant late last year.

..McGuire was a member of the Nevada Peace Officers Association and was born in Minneapolis Minn., on August 9, 1912.

He is survived by his wife Louise; a son, Timothy Patrick, 6 mo.; and daughters Shannon Gay, Colleen Gayle, 5.

Plaque Location & Image

Center Wall Column 10 Row E     View The Plaque