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Butler County Undersheriff Forrest Richards

Butler County Undersheriff Forrest Richards collapsed and died early Sunday evening while in pursuit of a man he had arrested for reckless driving.

Taken into custody once again about 30 to 40 minutes after he had fled on foot was Raymond Neil Schulte, 25, of Wichita. He was booked at the county jail for driving while intoxicated and escaping from custody. Officers said he refused to take a blood test.

Schulte, who was fined for drunkenness on a public highway in Butler County on July 26, 1856, was scheduled to appear this afternoon in county court on the two charges.

The incident, which occurred at about 6:30 p.m. at Pickrell Corner nine miles south of El Dorado, touched off a massive, but short lived search by approximately 50 law enforcement officers from Butler, Sedgwick, Cowley and Greenwood counties.

First reports indicated that a sheriff's officer had been shot after arresting a hitchhiker. Persons at a service station and restaurant on the corner - unction of Highways 54, 77 and K-96 had heard Richards fire one shot above the head of the escaping man and a witness later saw the undersheriff turn and fall to the ground.

Dr. Dale W. Anderson, county coroner, said Richards, 54, died of an apparent heart attack. The officer, who lived at 511 West Locust, had suffered a heart attack this summer and had been hospitalized for a lengthy period before returning to duty.

However, an autopsy was scheduled to be performed this morning in Wichita to determine the exact cause of Richard's death. Sheriff Dallas Babcock said a paraffin test was also scheduled in Wichita today to make absolutely certain that Richards had fired the shot.

Minute-by-minute, officers from four counties and police dogs arrived to join in the search. Included were other sheriff's officers, El Dorado police and El Dorado's new police dog, Fritz, Wichita and Sedgwick County officers with five police dogs, officers from Cowley and Greenwood counties and the Highway Patrol.

Believing that Schulte might return to his car, George Lorance, El Dorado Police Officer, disconnected the coil wire to the distributor in Schulte's car.

While officers were searching, Schulte did return to his car - only to be taken into custody.

Witnessing Trooper Williams take Schulte from the car near the intersection were Sheriff Babcock, County Attorney Ralston, Deputy Wagner and Lieut. Dick Hadsall, Highway Patrol Officer.

Sheriff Babcock, said an unidentified person had telephoned from the restaurant to the sheriff's office and said an officer had been shot at Pickrell Corner.

Ralph Romig, second shift dispatcher and jailer, said Richards had notified him by radio at 6:33 p.m. that a man had escaped from custody.

"He gave me the man's approximate description and the location, and that was the last I heard from him," Romig said.

Wesley Asmusen, of Leon, operator of the service station, reportedly saw Richards fall to while pursuing Schulte.

Officers said Schulte has a record as a suspicious person and traffic offender in Wichita.

"I have never seen any better cooperation," Sheriff Babcock commented in praising the rapid response and efforts on the part of law enforcement officers; both off and on duty, who converged on the scene.

The search for Schulte ended when Deputy Dick Wagner, a dispatcher at the sheriff's department here, arrived on the scene and saw the Wichitan sitting in his car beside the roadway. Wagner shouted to State Trooper Charles Williams, of the Kansas Highway Patrol, Eureka, who hauled Schulte from the automobile and took him into custody.

County Attorney Warren Ralston who with Sheriff Dallas Babcock arrived just as Trooper Williams was arresting Schulte, and Deputies Harold Taylor and Don McGinnis, who took Schulte's statement said the chain of events happened this way:

After arresting Schulte for reckless driving, Undersheriff Richards took the man to his patrol car. Richards got out again to move Schulte's car off the highway, but Schulte fled and ran between some storage tanks at the Junction Service Station adjacent to a restaurant on Route 2, Leon.

When Schulte fled, Richards fired one shot over the man's head. The undersheriff radioed to the sheriff's office in El Dorado that a drunken driver he had taken into custody had escaped. Richards later collapsed and died after running about 100 feet.

When questioned, Schulte told officers he "ran in back of the restaurant and waited until everyone was gone and it was quiet."

Forrest E. Richards, a resident of El Dorado since 1933, had been associated with the sheriff's office for the past five years. Prior to that he was service manage for the Rice Motor Co.

He came to El Dorado in 1933 from Washington, Kansas, where he had moved from Nebraska as a young boy.

He was born December 18, 1907 at Virginia, Neb. He and Mary E. Watts were married Dec. 26, 1938 at Beatrice, Neb. She survives.

Mr. Richards, who was a technical sergeant with the U.S. Army in World War II, served in the European theater.

He was a member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, Capt. Edgar Dale Post 81 of the American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans. He was also a member of the Christian Church in Nebraska.

Survivors in addition to his wife include one daughter, Mary Jo, 14, and one son, Forrest E., Jr., 9, both of the home; two brothers, Fay Richards, Cozad, Neb., and Glenn Richards, Beatrice, Neb.; two sisters, Mrs. C. E. Bryant, Beatrice, and Mrs. C. P. Snyder, Lincoln, Neb.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Dietz-Pittman Colonial Chapel, with the Rev. Leon Hayen, pastor of Trinity Evangelical United Brethren Church, officiating.

Interment will be in Walnut Valley Memorial Park. (El Dorado Times, September 24, 1962)

Sgt. Forest Richards was laid to rest in Walnut Valley Memorial Park, El Dorado, Butler County, Kansas.