Sgt Thomas Wolf Butler County Kansas genealogytrails

Butler County, Kansas

SGT. ALVIN THOMAS “TOM” WOLF

A Butler County sheriff’s deputy was killed about 11 Monday morning in a grinding collision with a semi-trailer truck that was being pursued by other authorities.

The deputy was identified as Sgt. Tom Wolf, 28, of El Dorado. His body was trapped in the wreckage for about 90 minutes. The death was confirmed by Butler County attorney Bill Ronan.

After the semi-trailer rig struck the squad car, both vehicles crashed into a house at the corner of 3rd Street and Highway 254 in Towanda.

The crash occurred as Sgt. Wolf reportedly was trying to set up a roadblock to stop the fleeing truck at the intersection right in the middle of town in Towanda.

Instead, the truck crashed into Wolf’s squad car, went out of control and carried the auto with it into the house.

Ronan said the truck driver, who had not been identified, was treated at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital and then taken to the Butler County Jail.

First reports from the accident scene indicated there was a fire, and at least one fire unit was called from El Dorado.

The Lifewatch helicopter was called to the scene while rescuers attempted to free the deputy from the wreckage.

Two cranes were summoned from El Dorado to pry the wreckage apart.

The tractor-trailer rig was being pursued by squad cars from the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Sedgwick County sheriff’s office after the truck reportedly had been involved in two separate non-injury hit-and-run accidents in the Wichita area.

The truck left the scene of both accidents, authorities said, and during the chase, deputies fired shots at the truck’s tires and radiator in an attempt to stop it. Eye witnesses said there were a number of bullet holes in the truck.

Butler County Sheriff Dave Williams said the deputy drove his car in front of the truck in an effort to slow it down.

“The truck hit him in the rear end two or three times and then just shoved him through here,” Williams said. The truck and car also rammed a pizza truck before hitting the house.

Joanne Lindsay of rural El Dorado said she looked out the window of a nearby bank and saw the truck surrounded by police cars. “All at once the semi sped up and rammed one police car and another truck and pushed them off the road into the side of the house,” she said.

A. J. Thomas, who lives in the house with his two sisters, said they were watching television when they heard sirens. They were not injured. (El Dorado Times, April 19, 1982)

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An Austin, Texas truck driver was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday afternoon in Butler County District Court on charges stemming from a high-speed chase that ended in the death of a Butler County sheriff’s deputy Monday morning.

Authorities said they plan to seek a first-degree murder indictment against him in connection with the death of Sgt. Tom Wolf, El Dorado.

Butler County attorney Bill Ronan said early Tuesday morning that he would file charges of first degree murder, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, attempting to elude police officers and reckless driving against 31-year-old Johnny Lee Huddleston.

Huddleston was the driver of a semi-trailer truck filled with grain that ran over and crushed a patrol car with Wolf inside.

Ronan said that based upon officers’ reports, he would file the charge of first degree murder because he believed it was a “premeditated and deliberated act.”

Ronan said Huddleston had a small amount of cocaine “on his person” at the time of the accident and said the amount was just enough for personal use.

Blood and urine samples were taken and sent to Topeka to determine whether or not Huddleston was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Results of the samples were not in this morning.

Huddleston was not seriously injured in the collision.

He was, however, taken to Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado for treatment before being taken to the Butler County Jail.

Later Monday afternoon Huddleston was taken from the Butler County Jail to the Greenwood County Jail in Eureka as a precautionary measure.

The collision between the truck and Wolf’s patrol car was the third accident of the day involving the truck.

About 10 a.m. the truck reportedly hit a vehicle south of Wichita on the Kansas Turnpike. The truck was later involved in a minor-injury accident in Wichita and there were several reports of a speeding truck in the northern part of the city.

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s officers gave chase, heading east on Highway 254.

Near Benton, about halfway between El Dorado and Wichita, officers tried to run the truck off the road and fired shots at the radiator and tires in an effort to stop it.

The truck continued toward Towanda, where it rammed into the rear end of Wolf’s vehicle. The truck struck a parked delivery truck before crashing into the side of a house in Towanda.

Sgt. Wolf, 28, of 812 W. Second, had been a sheriff’s deputy for four and a half years.

Wolf was born July 1, 1953 at Oakland, Calif., and had lived in El Dorado for the past six years, moving from Moline.

He moved to Enid, Okla. at an early age and later moved to Wichita and the Potwin area, where he attended school at Oil Hill. He then moved to Moline, where he lived with his grandparents and was graduated from Moline High School.

Alvin Thomas Wolf Jr. married Rhonda Weyrauch at Eureka on April 6, 1974.

Wolf is survived by his wife, Rhonda, of the home; two sons, Michael and Matt, both of the home; his mother and step-father, Dixie and Dean Groene, Enid, Okla,; his father, Alvin T. Wolf Sr., Oakland, Calif., his grandmother, Mrs. Arlimae Fox, Moline; three brothers, Dennis Wolf, Moline; and Leroy Groene and David Groene, both of Enid, and one sister, Sheryle Villareal, Enid.

A member of the Kansas Peace Officers Association and the Kansas Sheriff’s Association, Wolf was preceded in death by his grandfather.

A memorial has been established at the Walnut Valley State Bank. Donations may be sent to the bank or Carlson’s Funeral Home, which is in charge of the arrangements. (El Dorado Times – April 20, 1982

Sgt. Alvin Thomas Wolf, Jr. was laid to rest in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Moline, Elk County, Kansas.