James F. Crehan

Tuesday, March 31, 1914

Crehan, James F.

Rank: Policeman

Serial Number: Unknown

Division: Unknown

Location: 22nd and Long Beach Ave

Date Killed: Tuesday, March 31, 1914

Cause of Death: Traffic Accident Hit by a Street
Car

Bio:

In 1901, the Pacific Electric Railway was established in Los
Angeles, California, by Henry Huntington. Since the mid-1870's,
horse drawn trolley cars began carrying passengers around the area
of Spring and 2nd Streets. By 1914, the electric powered Red Cars
ran in all four directions from downtown Los Angeles, including
eastbound to San Bernardino and in a southern direction to Santa
Ana, California. It was such a street car that struck Patrolman
James F. Crehan on March 31, 1914, and ended his life at Long Beach
Avenue and Twenty-Second Street.

James F. Crehan was born in Wallacetown, Ontario, Canada on June 1,
1881. On January 2, 1905, he left Canada for good via the Michigan
Central Ferryboat, arriving in Detroit, Michigan on the same day.
Crehan made his way to Los Angeles, California by April 1906, where
he found work in the plumbing trade and worked as a pipe
fitter.

By 1910, James had married Josephine A. Ball and adopted her
eleven-year-old daughter. The family lived at 506 Francisco in what
was then the city of Redondo, but what today is Manhattan Beach.
Eventually, the family moved to 1741 East Twenty-Second Street,
just east of Long Beach Avenue, in Los Angeles.

On February 1, 1913, Crehan became a Los Angeles police officer. On
the afternoon of March 31, 1914, he finished his shift and headed
home. As he attempted to cross the tracks along Long Beach Avenue,
through which the Metropolitan Transit Authority Blue Line now
runs, Crehan waited for a northbound Los Angeles train to pass. As
the train continued, Crehan stepped onto the tracks and was
immediately struck by a southbound two car Red Line headed for
Santa Ana and was killed instantly, some five hundred feet west of
his residence.

James F. Crehan's service was held at St. Patrick's Catholic
Church, which is now located directly across the street from Newton
Police Station, but was then situated at 1032 East Thirty-Fourth
Street on the current church's common ground. He became the second
officer to die as a result of a collision with a street car. Crehan
was buried at Calvary Cemetery located at 4201 Whittier Boulevard,
in East Los Angeles.



Lieutenant J. A. Macias, #27710, LAPD