National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Officer Rank: Patrolman

Memorial Panel: 28-E: 29

Department: Cleveland, Ohio, P.D.

End of Watch: July 8, 1938

Cause: NIFE

Age: 42

Years of Service: 18

Description: Patrolman Wehagen was stabbed when he and two other officers responded to a domestic disturbance call. The suspect was an escapee from the psychopathic sanitarium who had locked himself in the kitchen with a large butcher's knife and had threatened to harm his wife and two children. When Patrolman Wehagen opened the door, the suspect stabbed him in the abdomen. Patrolman Wehagen sprayed the suspect with tear gas as he fell, bleeding, to the floor. The suspect stumbled down the steps were he was met by another officer who fatally shot him twice. Patrolman Wehagen died during surgery several hours later.